Man gets almost six years in prison for disrupting flight from Seattle to Hawaii

HONOLULU — A man who got drunk and spat on a flight attendant who refused to serve him more alcohol on a flight from Seattle to Honolulu has been sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra noted on Wednesday that Zachariah Dodge, 27, had been ordered as a condition for probation from an earlier offense not to consume alcohol but did so anyway on ATA Flight 921 on Nov. 14, 2004.

Ezra also said Dodge acted horribly toward the flight attendant, spitting on her several times, and had multiple bail violations in the case.

Dodge previously pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight attendant while aboard an aircraft.

"This shows that the government and the court will support our flight crew members while on board airplanes," U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said.

"The stiff sentence provides notice to all that this type of conduct on our airplanes will never be tolerated and will continue to warrant additional prison time," he said.