A former vintner and a salon technician were each fined $250 for allegedly engaging in oral sex in front of other passengers on a commercial Allegiant Air flight from Medford, Oregon, to Las Vegas.
Christopher Martin, of Las Vegas, and Medford resident Jessica Stroble, each pleaded guilty in absentia in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to a federal misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct on Thursday, reports Oregon’s Mail Tribune.
The alleged act took place on June 21.
According to an FBI affidavit, passengers on the Allegiant Air flight saw Martin exposing his genitals and twice joining Stroble in oral sex and other acts despite warnings from flight attendants.
The affidavit states Martin and Stroble, 44 and 33 years old respectively at the time of the incident, were allegedly asked to stop by an attendant and did so during the drink and snack service, but later repeated the sex acts before landing.
One of the passengers complained to an attendant that “this is not the sex education I wanted to give my teenage sons,” according to the criminal complaint.
The pair were arrested by Las Vegas police officers after the flight.
According to the complaint, they were initially charged with a federal misdemeanor crime of lewd, indecent and obscene acts on an airplane, which carried a maximum sentence of up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.
The Mail Tribune reports that U.S. magistrate judge George Foley Jr. ordered the fines after accepting pleas from attorneys representing Martin and Stroble, who weren’t required to attend the hearing.
“I have made many mistakes in my life, none greater than this one,” said Martin, former vintner of Oregon’s highly regarded Troon Vineyard, in a written statement sent to the Mail Tribune.
“I have lost my job, my reputation and damaged the legacy I had worked 10 years to nurture and grow. I will learn from this and move on to the next chapter in my life.”
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