Smoker Gets 15 Days in Prison

A North Hollywood undertaker who intimidated an airline stewardess when he was ordered to stop smoking on a TWA flight from Boston to Los Angeles last Dec. 31 was sentenced today to spend 15 days in prison as part of a sentence the judge said was designed to protect the flying public.

U.S. District Judge A. Wallace Tashima, saying he wanted the sentence to have a deterrent effect on other passengers who might take the law into their own hands, imposed a suspended sentence of 18 months on James J. Tabacca, 34, with the provision that he spend 15 days behind bars. He also ordered two years’ probation, a $500 fine and required that Tabacca perform 100 hours of community service.