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Saiman Hermez, 19, Jonathan Petras, 20, Ghazwan Shaba, 21,
Essa Solaqa, 20, Khalid Yohana, 19, and Wisam Shaker, 23, were
charged with interference with a flight crew and aiding and
abetting, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District
of Texas said.
Prosecutors said they face up to 20 years in federal prison and
a fine of $250,000 each.According to a federal complaint, the
six men were sitting together aboard Southwest Airline flight
1522 and disregarded flight crew instructions to quiet down,
responding that "they could be as loud as they want."
"The defendants did not comply with anything they were asked to
do; they were repeatedly standing up and becoming increasingly
louder and attempted to incite other passengers to join their
non-compliant behavior," the attorney's office said.
The plane was diverted to an airport in Amarillo where the men
were removed from the flight before it continued on to land at
Chicago Midway International Airport.
Randall County online jail records did not list a lawyer or bail
amount for any of the men. They are scheduled to appear in
Amarillo federal court on Wednesday.
(Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Lisa Lambert)
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