Disruptive Turkish jet passenger on Los Angeles-Honolulu flight sentenced to time served

HONOLULU - The Associated Press

A Turkish man who disrupted a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu won’t receive additional jail time and must pay American Airlines more than $8,500.

Anıl Uskanlı was sentenced on Nov. 20 to the six months that he has spent locked up.

Prosecutors have said Uskanlı acted oddly on the May flight, including walking to the front of the plane with a blanket around his head. Crewmembers feared his laptop contained explosives. That prompted fighter jets to escort the plane to Honolulu.

Uskanlı pleaded guilty last month to interfering with a flight crew. He said he was hallucinating on the plane and trying to catch a butterfly. He said he was ill and knows there was no butterfly.

His immigration attorney Gary Singh says a deportation hearing is scheduled for next week.