LONDON – The Southwest Airlines passenger that was caught masturbating on a flight has been sentenced to 48 days in prison.
Named Antonio Sherrodd McGarity, he has also been given 1-year probation on top of his 48-day sentence. The official report says the following:
The Official Report…
“Antonio Sherrodd McGarity, 34, of Arlington, Texas, pleaded guilty last week to Lewd, Indecent, or Obscene Acts While on an Aircraft and was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah M. Fine to 48 days in prison, followed by one year of probation.”
“McGarity is also prohibited from flying commercially in the United States while on probation. A conviction for this offense carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail.”
On April 2, 2022, during a Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle to Phoenix, McGarity exposed himself while other passengers sat next to him in the emergency exit row.”
“McGarity also masturbated several times. The passenger sitting beside McGarity reported the incident to a flight attendant who then informed Phoenix Police and FBI agents on the ground.”
“Immediately upon landing, McGarity was arrested and charged with committing a lewd, indecent, or obscene act while on an aircraft. In addition to this offense, McGarity has several prior state and local convictions for lewd and lascivious conduct.”
“The Phoenix Police Department and FBI conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Hakala and Tim Courchaine, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.”
Should More Have Been Done by the Authorities?
The official report obviously stated that McGarity had prior convictions for his behavior, which does spark some intrigue into whether he should have been placed on the no-fly list or not.
For something as uncomfortable as what McGarity has done, this shouldn’t have been allowed to take place on a plane, never mind on a public street.
A lot of controversies have taken place regarding no-fly lists in the United States, especially because of the behavior of passengers on many different issues.
McGarity would of course fall under this umbrella of being an unruly passenger, especially for the lewd behavior he took part in.
Overall…
It remains clear that this sort of behavior is not acceptable, and hopefully, the verdict of this case will dissuade other passengers from doing lewd acts like this.
However, there is nothing to dictate in terms of the psychological behavior of future acts like this. This is an unfortunate case, and it is of happiness that a conviction has been made.
The only point with this is that the fact that McGarity had previous convictions for crimes like this suggests that he may very well do this again in the future.
