Drunk Pilot Accepts Guilt, But Still Faces Connecticut Charges

The 21-year-old man who took friends on a drunken jaunt in a stolen Cessna 172 last June has accepted a plea deal in one of the two cases against him.

With attorney Ed Camacho at his side, on Monday Phillippe Patricio accepted blame for the ordeal by pleading guilty in Westchester County Court, and faces up to a year in jail for the crime -- a venue he should be familiar with, as he's been in jail since his June 22, 2005 arrest.

As was originally reported ad nauseam in Aero-News (stories like this tend to get stuck under our skin) Patricio, a student pilot, broke into the Danbury, CT airport and grabbed the keys to a Cessna 172. He then took off with two friends, and flew around aimlessly before landing, lost and nearly out of fuel, on a dark taxiway at Westchester County Airport.

Officers of the Westchester Department of Public Safety responding to the airplane got there in time to see Patricio -- along with several beer cans -- roll out of the plane. In addition to being intoxicated, Patricio was also described as "belligerent and noncompliant" by County authorities at the time.

In October, Patricio pleaded not guilty to the crime, with his attorney arguing his client was facing trumped-up charges due, in part, to hysteria surrounding threats from stolen aircraft in the wake of 9/11.

Camacho told the Danbury News-Times Monday that Patricio is glad to have the case resolved. He will be sentenced in New York on March 8 -- although Camacho will ask for time served, allowing Patricio to be released that day.

He won't have any time to enjoy his freedom, however, as Patricio will still need to face charges in Connecticut for the drunken caper. He is not expected to fight extradition to the Danbury Superior Court.

"I have to speak to his attorney," said Danbury prosecutor Stephen Sedensky, on what charges Patricio will face in Connecticut. "We haven't resolved anything yet."

According to the News-Times, Danbury authorities are waiting to serve Patricio a warrant for a variety of charges ranging from drunken driving (he had to get to the airport somehow) to circumventing airport security, which is a felony.

The New York plea bargain does not call for Patricio to participate in any sort of alcohol treatment program, "in part, because he has Connecticut to deal with," according to Camacho.

As we said earlier, this was an infamous story on the pages of ANN last year -- including most recently, when Patricio was dubbed one of our Top Ten Aero-Bozos of the year for his stunt.

FMI: www.faa.gov