Unruly Passenger Duct-Taped To Seat Gets 60-Days for Three Counts of Assault; Victim Calls Sentence “Miscarriage Of Justice”

MIAMI, FL – An unruly Frontier Airlines passenger who went viral after videos emerged of him being subdued and duct taped to his seat after punching and sexually assaulting multiple flight attendants has been sentenced, reports say.

Maxwell Berry will spend the next 60 days in jail – followed by one year of probation – a judge ruled on Tuesday, after the 23 year-old pleaded guilty to three counts of assault within maritime and territorial jurisdiction for his crimes while aboard a flight from Philadelphia to Miami in August 2021.

Berry had originally been facing a year-and-a-half behind bars and a $15,000 fine.

According to the arrest report, Berry had consumed two alcoholic beverages on the flight, and then brushed his empty cup against the backside of a female flight attendant, who chastised him by saying, “Don’t touch me.”

Berry would go on to order a third drink that he spilled on himself; after going to the restroom, he emerged shirtless and began groping the breasts of two female flight attendants, the arrest report says. Berry then punched a male flight attendant who attempted to intervene; eventually he was subdued and duct taped to a seat, with police waiting in Miami taking him into custody.

Two of the flight attendants that Berry attacked – Jordan Galarza, who was punched, and Tymerah Burgess, who was groped – attended the sentencing; Burgess defended the decision to duct tape the out-of-control young man, saying that it may have appeared to be “a bit barbaric, but it worked perfectly and no one got hurt because of how we did what we did.”

Galarza, after giving his victim impact statement, told reporters that the 60 day sentence Berry received was a “miscarriage of justice.”

“He made an enemy of everyone on that flight,” Galarza said. “The people on that aircraft saw justice happen — more than what we saw today. I think it’s a disgusting miscarriage of justice, in my opinion.”

Before being sentenced, Berry said that he was “embarrassed” by his actions and was remorseful.