Passenger Smokers Charged

The warning that “smoking is bad for your health” might have a new twist for airline passenger Manolín Jesús Villaverde: Smoking cost him his freedom, after he caused an airliner to divert to San Antonio. Villaverde, who turned 36 on Wednesday, was pulled off the Continental Airlines flight Tuesday night after he became unruly when told to put out cigarettes. FBI agents on Wednesday hauled him into federal court on a charge of interfering with flight crew members, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. A criminal complaint affidavit said Villaverde, of Miami, was on Continental Flight 1287 from Houston to Ontario, Calif., when he came out of the restroom smoking a cigarette. A flight attendant told him to put it out, and he refused, so the attendant did it for him, the affidavit said. Villaverde lit another cigarette, and another attendant took it from him and put it out, the affidavit said. Villaverde allegedly caused a scene and had to be subdued by the crew and other passengers. The pilot landed in San Antonio so he could be taken into custody. The plane arrived at its destination two hours late. In court, a frustrated Villaverde told U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Mathy, “I just want to know if I'm going to be bouncing around like a BB in a boxcar.” The judge told Villaverde that he would be go back to a federal jail, pending a bail hearing she set for Friday. Villaverde has a history of arrests in Miami, including charges of theft, assault and battery and disorderly intoxication. Most recently, he served three years of probation for an aggravated battery charge in 2007 in which a count of attempted felony murder was dismissed.