A British passenger who allegedly threatened to kill everyone aboard a trans-Atlantic flight was expected to plead guilty Wednesday under an agreement with prosecutors that will spare him further jail time.
Sean Simon John Joyce, 38, of London, allegedly became belligerent after taking a sleeping pill and drinking wine on a US Airways flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to London on July 11.
Joyce pushed at least one flight attendant, took off his shirt, and head-butted another crew member, according to witnesses. He also allegedly threatened to kill himself and the other 246 people on board as crew and passengers tried to handcuff him.
The flight was diverted to Boston, where Joyce was arrested.
Joyce served five days in jail before he was released on bail and into his mother's custody in Florida.
In a sentencing memo filed in U.S. District Court, federal prosecutors said they believe Joyce's claim that he had a bad reaction after drinking two mini-bottles of wine and took the prescription sleep medication Ambien on board the flight. They recommended that he not serve any more jail time.
Prosecutors cite a medical Web site, which lists possible reactions and side effects to Ambien as aggression, bizarre behavior, agitation and amnesia. It also says Ambien should not be taken with alcohol.
"It is hard to say that he should be held fully responsible for actions that appear to be a rare and freakish reaction to medication and alcohol," Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Feeley wrote in the sentencing memo.
Joyce's attorney, Michael Andrews, said Joyce took ibuprofen and the sleep medication because he was suffering from a severe sinus headache. When he drank the wine, it caused an unexpected reaction, Andrews said.
A painting contractor with a 10-year-old daughter and two grown stepchildren, Joyce was charged with interfering with flight crew members and attendants, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
"He has absolutely no memory of anything that happened," Andrews said. "He had a bad (drug and alcohol) interaction, that's what we believe happened."
Joyce was scheduled to enter his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf late Wednesday afternoon.
