Korean flight disrupter sentenced to pay $44K, time served
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hyongtae Pae stood outside the federal courthouse in Honolulu on April 21 after pleading guilty to interfering with a United Airlines flight crew in March. The Korean national was arrested after he became violent when he wasn’t allowed to do yoga on a flight from Honolulu to Tokyo, and the plane turned back because of him.
A Korean tourist who was arrested after he became violent when he wasn’t allowed to do yoga on a plane leaving Hawaii won’t get additional jail time, but he must pay United Airlines more than $44,000.
A federal judge in Honolulu on Thursday sentenced Hyongtae Pae to time served, which was about 13 days. He’ll be under court supervision for three years, which is the amount of time he has to pay the restitution.
Pae and his wife were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with a Hawaii vacation, and the couple was headed home when he was arrested.
According to court records, Pae didn’t want to sit in his seat during the meal service on the March flight from Honolulu to Tokyo, so he went to the back of the plane to do yoga and meditate. Authorities say he refused to return to his seat, threatened crew members and passengers, and shoved his wife. The pilot turned the plane around and returned to Honolulu. Pae told authorities after his arrest that he hadn’t slept in 11 days.
Court records say he threatened to kill passengers and was yelling that there is no god. Pae went into a rage because he felt the flight crew was ordering him around, prosecutors said.
He pleaded guilty in April to interfering with a flight crew and was allowed to return home to South Korea, even though prosecutors warned he might not return for his sentencing.
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U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor said she agrees with prosecutors that Pae’s actions constituted a violent felony. Because of that, it’s possible he might never be allowed to return to the United States. That’s fine by Pae, who is in his 70s and doesn’t intend to travel to the United States in the future, said his defense attorney, Jin Tae “J.T.” Kim.
“I think your client is getting off very easy” with the $44,235 restitution amount, considering the costs of turning the plane around, including jet fuel and all the passengers who had to return to Honolulu, Gillmor said.
It was a traumatic experience for the passengers and the flight crew, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Otake, adding that it’s fortunate there were Marines on board who helped restrain him.
Pae tried to bite and head-butt the two Marines, prosecutors said.
Gillmor said Pae may return to home to Korea, but before he leaves must meet with a probation officer to work out restitution payments.
Pae declined to speak in court. “He didn’t say it, but he does apologize for what happened,” Kim said outside of court.
2 responses to “Korean flight disrupter sentenced to pay $44K, time served”
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Owes $44K, 11 days of no sleeping, has a probation officer, I would say that was a very expensive plane ride.
Was he originally a soldier in the North Korean army ?
I remember reading that he was a (retired?) Korean farmer. The reports indicate he was likely experiencing a manic episode. Previous stories have reported that his wife said he had not sleep for several days since arriving here as a tourist. For a Korean farmer on vacation, his bizzare, agitated hyperreligious behavior is suggestive of an acute manic episode.
Acute psychiatric conditions, particularly acute mood disorders, are seen in travelers to Hawaii because of sleep deprivation from changing in time zones, the stimulation of being in a new culture and on vacation, and perhaps increased use of intoxicants. Mania seems to be more common in those coming West-to-East, from Asia, whose biological clock is being advanced by earlier rising of the sun. These travelers get up early to make use of their hard-earned vacation, but then can’t get to sleep at night. They end up “burning the candle at both ends”. After several days of this, symptoms develop and this can add on more stress.
Another possibility is stimulant intoxication (cocaine, meth), but there were no reports of this.
I suspect that reason Mr. Pae’s mental state was not made an issue in this case is that by law this could have compelled him to be unnecessarily committed to the federal medical facility in Springfield for an extended period f time, perhaps several years. Instead, he was ordered to get pretrial psychiatric care. Then, his defense attorney and the courts apparently downplayed his mental state at trial. He was allowed to simply plead guilty.
This is another example of how our court system seeks justice with little interest or motivation to get at the truth. To the contrary, the truth is often avoided intentionally in order to keep the justice machine churning along. This is why the majority of defendants and prosecutors feel forced to bargain a plea, even if it does not fit the facts of what really happened. Sadly, this is the norm.
One of the problems with all this is that the public is left with a distorted view of the facts upon which convictions and sentencing decisions are based, wondering what happened and why. It is really quite a mess, and one of America’s dirty little secrets.