Two San Diego men have been convicted of disrupting a Chicago-bound Southwest Airlines flight last summer.
Jonathan Khalid Petras and Wisam Imad Shaker were convicted Thursday in Amarillo, Texas, of interference with a flight crew and aiding and abetting. Each faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
An affidavit says Petras and Shaker were on their way to a tournament in Chicago with four other Chaldean soccer players last August.
They boarded Flight 1522 in San Diego and sat together. Prosecutors say the men became aggressive, used obscene language when denied alcohol and refused instructions from flight attendants. Pilots eventually diverted the plane to Amarillo.
All six were detained when the jet landed at Rick Husband International Airport. The flight continued to Midway International Airport after a brief delay.
The Chaldean players felt like the incident was a cultural misunderstanding, however, especially since they were speaking their Aramaic language on the flight, according to Attorney Sammer Zakhour.
Zakhour met with the players last year, and gave them legal advice. He says none of the players understood the seriousness of their actions on that plane.
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"I believe the court and the jury would have eliminated the notion that racism or prejudice is the sole motivator for this prosecution, our court system eliminated that, and it's likely that a couple of them acted inappropriately,” Zakhour said.
Essa Solaqa and Khalid Yohana were acquitted Thursday. Charges against two other men were previously dismissed.
When the incident happened, Chaldean community activist Mark Arabo came to the defense of the six players, and accused Southwest Airlines of terrorizing them for speaking their native Aramaic language.
NBC 7 reached out to Arabo Friday, but he chose not to comment.
