Not A Joking Matter

Gay Wilson was sentenced to five years in federal prison Friday for writing a bomb note and interfering with a flight crew. US District Court Judge Todd J. Campbell declined her request to withdraw from the plea agreement that Wilson had accepted in March.

Campbell sentenced her to five years in prison, and two years of supervised release. Wilson is not allowed to fly on an airplane during that time. Family members of Wilson reportedly said the sentence was too harsh, that the note was a joke and was not meant to cause any harm.

"The sentencing should have been much lighter," said Chiquita Wallace, Wilson's niece, to the AP. She said Wilson had no criminal record and had been an upstanding citizen. "The truth never really came out."

Wilson has been serving time in Kentucky since the event on May 27, 2004. Although it's not clear where she'll serve out her time, at least she'll get credit for time served already, according to US Assistant District Attorney Sunny A.M. Koshy.

Wilson claimed she found a bomb note in the bathroom while traveling on an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Boston. The note read: "There is a bomb on board this flt (sic) to Boston in cargo. Live Sadaam (sic)!"

Flight attendants testified Friday that Wilson came out of the airplane lavatory and gave them the note. But they never suspected she wrote it.

"It was like a stab through the heart," said Kathy Glauser, one of the flight attendants who testified, when describing her reaction to learning Wilson wrote the note.

Two fighter jets escorted the plane to Nashville International Airport, where it was evacuated and searched.

FMI: www.tnmd.uscourts.gov