Man sentenced to prison after in-air disturbance on plane flight

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — A 24-year-old man from Shelby Township will serve 18 months in federal prison after disrupting a flight from Nebraska to Detroit, prompting an emergency landing.

On Jan. 13, Mario Nikprelaj was sentenced to the prison term in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand after pleading guilty to one count of interfering with flight crew members and attendants during a flight last July.

Prosecutors said Nikprelaj began causing trouble aboard Delta Connection Flight 3612, operated by SkyWest Airlines, before takeoff in Omaha July 17.

Before the plane left the gate, Nikprelaj began making “disruptive and rude statements” to passengers and flight crew, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Iowa, and initially refused to put his seatbelt on.

Once in the air, Nikprelaj repeatedly took off his seat belt and stood up while the plane was ascending. Prosecutors said he also “flipped off” an 80-year-old flight attendant who told him to buckle up, “poked the flight attendant in the chest,” and “threatened to kill the flight attendant” when told he would be reported to law enforcement.

After Nikprelaj eventually appeared to nod off in his seat, flight attendants were alerted by emergency call buttons after several passengers saw him messing with the emergency exit door near his seat.

When the same flight attendant Nikprelaj had previously threatened approached him again to stop him, Nikprelaj shoved, swore at, and continued to threaten the flight attendant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The plane made an emergency landing in Cedar Rapids.

As the plane was descending, Nikprelaj “again stood up, took his shirt off, and began walking up and down the aisle,” according to prosecutors.

When flight crew members asked passengers to help restrain Nikprelaj, he reportedly lashed out at three passengers and tried to punch them.

After the landing, Nikprelaj was taken into custody by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and searched. Authorities said they found a prescription bottle with 41 pills of purported Xanax that was not in his name.

The Cedar Rapids Police Department charged him with disorderly conduct, assault, possession of prescription medication, a tax stamp violation, and first-degree harassment.

According to the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, his criminal history includes a conviction for assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer; domestic violence; disorderly conduct; breaking and entering; and possession of drug paraphernalia.

After serving his 18-month prison term, Nikprelaj will be placed on two years of supervised release, prosecutors said.

His attorney, Jill M. Johnston, of the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Cedar Rapids, could not be reached for comment by press time.