A 38-year-old man from Mexico who had been granted legal permanent resident status in 2018 pleaded guilty on June 30 to stabbing a fellow passenger on a flight to Las Vegas, Nevada, US.
He Made His Own Weapon
According to am official press release from the US Attorneys Office, court documents and statements have shown that the incident took place on the flight from from Seattle, Washington on January 24, 2024, when J.A.L. “punched, hit, and stabbed another passenger”.
The man used a “dangerous homemade weapon” made from three pens tied together with hair bands, causing injuries to the victim’s body and eye area that reqiored stitches.
After the man stopped his assault on the victim, he was seen walking towards the front of the plane where he was immediately restrained until landing.
Once the aircraft touched ground at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department intervened and took the suspect into custody.
During a police interview, L. decided to waive his Miranda rights (legal protections that require police officers to inform suspects of their constitutional rights prior to initiating an interrogation) and bluntly admitted to arming himself with the homemade weapon and choosing the victim because he “had been looking at him in a harassing way”.
More distubingly, the man admitted that he tried to murder the victim “by shoving the homemade weapon into the victim’s brain.”
Guilty to Assault witj Dangerous Weapon
L. pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and his sentencing will be issued on September 22, 2026, when a judge from a federal district court will consider the US Sentencing Guidelines along with other statutory factors.
The case, which will be prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Brenna Bush, was investigated by the FBI, the Federal Air Marshal Service, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The announcement was made by First Assistant US Attorney Sigal Chattah, representing the District of Nevada, Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto, representing the FBI Las Vegas Field Office, and Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge Garrett Donaldson from the LE/FAMS Las Vegas Field Office.