MIAMI — A Florida federal grand jury indicted an unruly St. Croix passenger accused of interfering with a flight attendant while aboard an American Airlines flight last month, the Virgin Islands Free Press has learned.
In a two-count indictment, Jason Felix, 35, is charged with “interference with a flight crew and attendants” and “assault within special aircraft jurisdiction,” according to court documents obtained by the V.I. Free Press from the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida.
The grand jury found that Felix, on a flight from St. Croix to Miami, unlawfully and knowingly assaulted at least one passenger on the flight and intimidated flight crew members, according to the two-page indictment.
FBI Agent Gena C. Rezmer said in a seven-page criminal complaint that Felix threatened to kill and assaulted off-duty Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) officer Dirk Marshall and called the flight attendant with the initials “G.B.” a “faggot” and “bitch.”
Rezmer also said that the flight crew requested that the flight be diverted to an earlier landing in Nassau, the Bahamas because they were concerned about the safety of the passengers on the flight due to the disruption that Felix allegedly caused.
The FBI agent with 10 years experience working at Miami International Airport said that the flight crew instead increased its flight speed to Miami so that the plane could land earlier than scheduled and remove disruptive passenger Felix from the flight.
For the interference with a flight crew charge, he faces 20 years in prison; for the alleged assault of Marshall he faces six months in prison.
Four Miami-Dade police officers escorted the St. Croix native off the airplane on May 23 and he has been held in federal custody ever since.
Felix’s arraignment, where he learned the official charges against him, was held on June 7 as scheduled, according to Sarah Schall, with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s public information office.
His antics aboard AA Flight 1293 have achieved worldwide attention with numerous YouTube videos posted to the Internet, countless news articles written and even the British press speculating about whether Felix is a U.S. citizen.
People born in the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island are American citizens.
According to police records, Felix was arrested by the VIPD on Nov. 30, 2012 at the Front Line Night Club in Estate Coble, St. Croix.
A police patrol said they smelled the odor of marijuana in the area and when they went to investigate they found Felix allegedly acting in a suspicious manner with a loaded .45 caliber weapon tucked into the waist of his pants.
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