Two Canadian sisters Tuesday agreed to fines for scuffling with state deputy sheriffs at Honolulu Airport in May when detained for questioning about being disruptive during a flight from Washington state.
Rachel Francis, 20, of Surrey, British Columbia, was charged with second-degree assault after the May 2 incident in which she got into a confrontation with two deputy sheriffs at Honolulu Airport while being questioned about her conduct aboard an Allegiant Air flight.
Through a no-contest plea deal worked out by the Honolulu prosecutor’s office and the women’s attorney Daniel Kawamoto, Rachel Francis agreed to pay a fine of $250 on a reduced third-degree assault change. She also requested that the misdemeanor conviction be wiped from her record if she commits no crimes during the next six months.
Her sister, Mary Francis, tried to intervene when her sister was being questioned by authorities and was charged with obstruction of government operations.
Mary Francis agreed to a $50 fine for a no-contest plea to disorderly conduct, which is a violation.
The two sisters had been facing misdemeanor charges carrying a maximum jail term of one year.
Honolulu District Judge Leslie Hayashi agreed to the plea bargain deals for the two sisters during a hearing that neither sister attended.
After the hearing, Kawamoto said the two women were "happy to get this behind them."
"It was an unfortunate incident."
At Honolulu Airport’s Gate 17 at 8:20 p.m. May 2, the airport duty manager requested sheriff deputies to investigate a report of disruption on the plane.
When the plane reached the gate, the pilot asked that the Francis sisters be removed and questioned
because they had been belligerent with flight attendants and disruptive to passengers during the flight. While the two deputies were interviewing the two women, Rachel Francis allegedly assaulted a deputy sheriff.
At a District Court appearance in May, Kawamoto told Hayashi that they are "good people," saying that Rachel Francis won a competition among 350 people to be the face of an anti-bullying campaign in Surrey.
They were allowed to leave Hawaii after each posting $100 bail.
