A passenger pulled out a razor and held it to the throat of the female passenger next to him. This is the sentence he received - voila! tourism

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A drunken passenger on a JetBlue flight from New York's JFK Airport to Salt Lake City held a razor blade to a female passenger's throat because she didn't want to talk to him, and has now been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to carrying a weapon on the flight.

Merrill Darrell Fackrell, 42, of Syracuse, has already spent just over a year in federal prison awaiting trial for the November 21, 2022 incident, after which he was released but remained on probation for three years.

As part of Packrell's plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.

The court also decided to waive a fine because Packerl is unable to pay.

Prosecutors alleged that Packrell managed to smuggle a razor blade through the US Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) security checkpoint in New York when he boarded an Airbus A320 for a five-hour flight to Salt Lake City.

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He held the razor inches from her throat

Packrell sat in the window seat next to a passenger in the middle seat and tried to strike up a conversation while he downed some alcoholic drinks the flight attendants served him.

Eventually, the passenger got tired of the conversation, and after a trip to the bathroom, she put on her headphones and started watching the TV on her seatback.

Without warning, Packrell put his hand on her screen and told her to stop the movie.

He then allegedly held the razor inches from her throat before jumping up and yelling: "She'll be fine," and "Nobody needs to worry."

The passenger next to her rushed to the front of the plane to call for help, giving the threatened passenger a chance to jump out of her seat and escape Packerl.

Another passenger then convinced Packrell to drop the weapon and quickly dismantled it before sitting next to him for the rest of the flight.

During his initial appearance in court, Judge Dafna Oberg warned that Packerle poses a significant risk and that he may be suffering from a serious mental health condition that is partially untreated.

Packrell was ordered to pay an initial fine of $100 and was prohibited from drinking alcohol.

He will have to undergo up to eight drug and alcohol tests per month for the entire probation period.

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