Drunk New York Man Held Razor To Woman’s Neck On Flight

A drunk New York man who held a razor blade to a woman's throat on a flight has been sentenced for his crime. The incident happened on November 21, 2022, on a JetBlue flight from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to Salt Lake City, Utah. The woman did not want to talk to the man anymore, so he threatened her with the weapon.

Merrill Darrell Fackrell, 42, of Syracuse was on the flight sitting in a window seat. Prosecutors say he was trying to engage a woman sitting in the middle seat in a lengthy conversation. He was drinking alcoholic beverages during the time. The woman got up and went to the restroom. When she returned to her seat she put her headphones on to avoid talking with Fackrell.

As she was watching a program on her seatback, he reached over and paused it. The Fackrell pulled out a razor blade he smuggled on the plane and held it close to her throat, according to Paddle Your Own Kanoo. He then jumped up and yelled "She’s going to be ok,” and “no one needs to worry.” The victim was able to escape from Fackrell and another passenger convinced him to release the weapon.

Fackrell was recently sentenced, but will not serve another day behind bars. He pleaded guilty to carrying a weapon on an aircraft after making a plea deal with prosecutors to drop the assault with a deadly weapon charge he was also facing. He had spent over a year in a federal prison waiting for his trial and was sentenced to time served. He has been placed on supervised release for three years. Fackrell's fine was waived because of his inability to pay, although he was assessed a special assessment of $100. He is banned from drinking liquor and will be subject to submit to up to eight drug and alcohol tests each month during his three years of probation.

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