(Trinidad Express)The Trinidadian man charged with attempting to steal an American Airlines jet at Orlando Melbourne International Airport will be deported to Trinidad, placed on a US “no-fly” list, and barred from returning to the United States.
In a Monday plea deal, Nishal Sankat pleaded guilty to burglary to a conveyance, a third-degree felony. Prosecutors dropped charges of trespassing and grand theft, according to multiple news reports.
Sankat, a 22-year-old part-time Florida Tech student studying aviation management, was sentenced to 12 days time served at the Brevard County Jail Complex. Sankat, the son of former UWI principal Professor Clement Sankat, was ordered to pay $909 to cover the cost of the Melbourne Airport Police Department investigation.
According to a statement from the State’s Attorney General’s Office: “The plea was part of an agreement reached after an extensive investigation by Melbourne Police, Melbourne Airport Police, Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the FBI found Sankat acted alone and was suffering from depression and mental health issues when he boarded the American Airlines jet on Sept. 20, 2018”.
Sankat left his red Toyota idling at the passenger terminal about 2 a.m., climbed a perimeter fence, and boarded an American Airlines jet parked on the tarmac. Police found thart Sankat had no prior criminal history, and the Federal Aviation Administration is revoking his pilot’s license.
The Sept. 20 incident triggered an airport security lockdown for hours. Sankat was jailed on a suicide watch.