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Spring Hill man convicted of assaulting flight crew

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TBO.com

Published: May 21, 2009

A federal jury has found a Spring Hill man guilty of assaulting a flight crew after arriving at Orlando International Airport, the U.S. State Attorney's Office said.

Sammy Fontanez-Mercado, 26, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced on Aug. 5.

Fontanez-Mercado disobeyed instructions from a flight crew to remain seated after the plane landed at the airport, prosecutors say. Fontanez-Mercado yelled and lunged at a flight attendant and had to be restrained.

Another passenger who was traveling with Fontanez-Mercado, Luis Rodriguez, punched a flight attendant in the face and also had to be restrained. Rodriguez has pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting or intimidating a flight crew.

Flight attendants sustained bites, bruises and cuts in the incident, prosecutors say.

Further details on the incident were not released.

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