Man Pleads Guilty to Disrupting Flight

A businessman who was repeatedly told to stop harassing female passengers on a flight from London to Los Angeles pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges of disrupting a flight.

Mohammed Saeid Hejazi, 48, faces deportation to Saudi Arabia and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced Sept. 15, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.

In exchange for his guilty plea, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed not to recommend prison time. But the judge is not bound by the recommendation.

According to court documents, Hejazi was in the business-class section of United Airlines flight 935 on Jan. 10 when he took off his shoe and put his bare foot on the armrest of the seat of the woman in front of him, touching her arm with his toes.

He then reached behind him and repeatedly grabbed another female passenger’s knee, documents said.

After Hejazi was told several times to stop bothering the women, the captain told him to take a seat in the back of the plane, according to court documents. When Hejazi refused, crew members escorted him to the back. He was placed in plastic handcuffs, but used a cigarette lighter to free himself and returned to his seat and had to be subdued repeatedly.