by Bill Singer
Southwest Airlines Groper Caught In The Act
December 16, 2012
CHICAGO - APRIL 05: A Southwest Airlines passenger jet prepares to land at Midway Airport. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Srinivasa S. Erramilli, 45, a software consultant, may well be the very last person on the face of the Earth that a female would want to be seated next to on a flight.
On June 14, 2011, Erramilli was the last passenger to board the Southwest Airlinesflight from Las Vegas to Chicago Midway Airport. Frankly, ya always gotta wonder about those last ones to board, right?
Bill Singer
In any event, as Erramilli the dawdler finally got on board, he found the only remaining open seat between a female passenger at the window and her husband on the aisle. The couple were returning from a 34th anniversary trip to Vegas.
As the flight made its way to the Windy City, it appears that the female passenger, who was wearing shorts, awoke to feeling something brush against her thigh.
Apparently, after once again falling asleep, the female awoke again to feeling "pressure" on her thigh. And, yet again, she somehow managed to take another snooze.
Finally, the female passenger awoke and caught Erramilli with his hand up the leg of her shorts, rubbing and grabbing her inner thigh. At this point, the victim struck Erramilli and yelled at him after realizing that he had been groping her.
Following a three-day jury trial in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois, Erramilli was convicted of the felony of abusive sexual contact and now faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Where was the husband during all of this - sorry, the feds' press release doesn't say; maybe he too was fast asleep.
Oh, one - or should I say, two - other interesting bits of information about Erramilli's flight history.
On a flight from Detroit to Chicago in August 1999, Erramilli fondled the breast of another passenger. He pleaded guilty to battery and was sentenced to two years' probation and five days' community service.
It's not as if he got the message, right?
Oh, and then there's this other incident in 2002 when Erramilli groped the breast of another passenger, this time on a flight from San Jose to Detroit. He was sentenced in federal court to three years' probation for abusive sexual contact.
Umm, not that you folks in the robes are asking for my sentencing recommendation, but, just a thought: Erramilli clearly isn't getting the whole probation thing. Maybe, and this is just a suggestion, you should sentence him to some actual time in prison where, who knows, maybe a cellmate might introduce him to a whole new world of groping?
For similar cases:
Sexual Predators At 20,000 Feet As Feds Charge Another In-Flight Groper (Continental flight)
Why A Lawyer Can't Have His Fly Undone When Leaving On A Jet Plane (Continental flight)