"Emerson pleaded guilty in federal court in a September plea deal to one count of interfering with a flight crew in connection with the October 2023 incident. And on Monday he was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised released, as KPIX reports. This is a far happier outcome than the possible 20 years in prison he faced on the federal charge."
"Emerson was separately charged in state court in Oregon with 83 counts of reckless endangerment, to which he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to five years probation and 664 hours of community service eight hours for each person he endangered as well as $60,569 in restitution, mostly to Alaska Airlines. Emerson had initially faced 83 counts of attempted murder, but those charges were dropped."
"Emerson had been dropped off at the airport by a friend and had told the friend he was not doing well, mentally, after taking psilocybin mushrooms for the first time on a camping trip with friends in Washington's Methow Valley two days earlier. Emerson boarded the plane to head home to his family in Pleasant Hill, and had the privilege of sitting on the jumpseat in the cockpit, as an employee of Alaska Airlines."
Joseph Emerson, a former Alaska Airlines pilot, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of interfering with a flight crew related to an October 22, 2023 Horizon Air commuter flight and was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release. Emerson pleaded no contest in Oregon state court to 83 counts of reckless endangerment and received five years probation, 664 hours of community service, and $60,569 in restitution, mostly to Alaska Airlines. Emerson had taken psilocybin mushrooms two days earlier, began hallucinating midflight while on the cockpit jumpseat, and acted erratically believing he was trapped in a dream; attempted murder charges were dropped.
Read at sfist.com
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