A man who sexually assaulted woman aboard a flight from Chicago to Myrtle Beach gets max prison sent
A man convicted of sexually assaulting a 22-year-old woman aboard a flight from Chicago to Myrtle Beach during the summer of 2019 was sentenced late Thursday to two years in federal prison. Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger ordered 29-year-old Siva K. Durbesula, originally from India, to spend two years behind bars and then complete 10 years of supervised release and pay a $5,000 assessment.
Durbesula was a passenger aboard a flight from Chicago O’Hare International Airport headed to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on June 23, 2019, when he sexually assaulted the 22-year-old woman seated next to him, according to court documents, witness testimony and evidence presented at trial.
The victim testified during the trial that Durbesula pulled her toward him and groped her repeatedly midflight, the Justice Department said. Court records show that after the flight crew moved Durbesula away from the victim, he asked to return to his previous seat to speak to the victim again.
A jury convicted Durbesula of abusive sexual contact aboard an aeroplane. On Thursday, the federal judge in North Carolina handed Durbesula the statutory maximum prison term for the offence. Reidinger noted that the defendant’s repeated sexual misconduct required the maximum statutory punishment to promote respect for the law over a short period of time.
0 Comment