Drunk Pilot Accepts Guilt, But Still Faces Connecticut
Charges
The 21-year-old man who took friends on a drunken jaunt in a
stolen Cessna 172 last June has accepted a plea deal in one of the
two cases against him.
With attorney Ed Camacho at his side, on Monday Phillippe
Patricio accepted blame for the ordeal by pleading guilty in
Westchester County Court, and faces up to a year in jail for the
crime -- a venue he should be familiar with, as he's been in jail
since his June 22, 2005 arrest.
As was originally reported ad nauseam in
Aero-News (stories like this tend to get stuck under
our skin) Patricio, a student pilot, broke into the Danbury, CT
airport and grabbed the keys to a Cessna 172. He then took off with
two friends, and flew around aimlessly before landing, lost and
nearly out of fuel, on a dark taxiway at Westchester County
Airport.
Officers of the Westchester Department of Public Safety
responding to the airplane got there in time to see Patricio --
along with several beer cans -- roll out of the plane. In addition
to being intoxicated, Patricio was also described as "belligerent
and noncompliant" by County authorities at the time.
In October, Patricio pleaded not guilty to the crime, with his
attorney arguing his client was facing trumped-up charges due, in
part, to hysteria surrounding threats from
stolen aircraft in the wake of 9/11.
Camacho told the
Danbury News-Times Monday that Patricio is glad to have the case
resolved. He will be sentenced in New York on March 8 -- although
Camacho will ask for time served, allowing Patricio to be released
that day.
He won't have any time to enjoy his freedom, however, as
Patricio will still need to face charges in Connecticut for the
drunken caper. He is not expected to fight extradition to the
Danbury Superior Court.
"I have to speak to his attorney," said Danbury prosecutor
Stephen Sedensky, on what charges Patricio will face in
Connecticut. "We haven't resolved anything yet."
According to the News-Times, Danbury authorities are waiting to
serve Patricio a warrant for a variety of charges ranging from
drunken driving (he had to get to the airport somehow) to
circumventing airport security, which is a felony.
The New York plea bargain does not call for Patricio to
participate in any sort of alcohol treatment program, "in part,
because he has Connecticut to deal with," according to Camacho.
As we said earlier, this was an infamous story on the pages of
ANN last year -- including most recently, when Patricio was dubbed
one of our Top Ten Aero-Bozos of the
year for his stunt.