Dever – The man whose drunken brawl with his boyfriend aboard a United Airlines flight forced the plane to make an unscheduled stop in Denver was sentenced today to six months in federal prison.
In a shaky voice, Montgomery Joe Carter apologized and said the incident made him realize he is an alcoholic and that he is seeking treatment. The West Virginia man asked for probation and four months of house arrest.
But U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham noted that Carter, 37, has nine prior alcohol-related convictions.
“Nothing that has happened to him so far seems to have deterred him,” Nottingham said. “Perhaps, as he has said, this one has caught his attention. Whatever.”
Nottingham also ordered Carter to pay United $10,150 in restitution, money the airline estimated it spent in diverting the flight.
On April 12, Carter and his companion were flying from Washington D.C., to Las Vegas when they began arguing. Carter hit his companion in the head several times and flight attendants separated the two.
Carter walked the plane’s aisles, yelling and looking for his companion. He pushed flight attendants who tried to stop him, and in the scuffle a pregnant flight attendant was shoved.
He also approached the flight deck and worried airline personnel blocked entry to the cockpit with a beverage cart.
Carter was charged with interfering with a flight crew and assault aboard an aircraft while in flight.
His lawyer, assistant public defender Scott Thomas Varholak, called the incident a “stupid event” caused by Carter’s alcohol abuse and said justice would be better served if Carter were to remain out of prison and earning money to pay restitution.
But the judge said he hoped the sentence would send a strong message to Carter.
“Certainly the offense here, in this day and age, interference of any kind with an airline flight had to be regarded as a very serious offense,” Nottingham said.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or at acaldwell@denverpost.com.
