Thrifty and homesick, stowaway gets probation
UPDATED AT 7:04 AM EST Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004
Fort Worth, Tex. -- A New York shipping clerk who flew in a wooden cargo crate to Dallas because he was homesick but didn't want to buy an airline ticket was sentenced yesterday to one year of probation.
The sentence for Charles McKinley, 25, also includes four months of house arrest and a $1,500 (U.S.) fine. He pleaded guilty in November to stowing away on a cargo jet, a misdemeanour. U.S. Magistrate Charles Bleil noted that although Mr. McKinley committed a crime that was "wrong and stupid," his intent was to save money, not breach airline security. AP
