2 drunken pilots to remain jailed in Miami until next month's sentencing
By CATHERINE WILSON
Associated Press
Posted June 16 2005, 11:32 AM EDT
MIAMI -- Two fired America West pilots convicted of operating a jetliner while drunk will remain in jail until they are sentenced next month after they were denied bail Thursday.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge David Young had an edgy tone as he addressed pilot Thomas Cloyd, 47, and co-pilot Christopher Hughes, 44, and ordered them held at least another five weeks. They went to jail right after the verdicts were read last week after being free on bail for nearly three years while they contested the charges.
They were convicted of operating an aircraft while drunk after evidence showed they had spent the night in a bar drinking just hours before their scheduled July 2002 flight from Miami International Airport to Phoenix. It was stopped before it could takeoff after screeners noted alcohol on their breaths.
Hughes' wife Debbie told the judge Thursday that she had consulted a psychiatrist about how best to prepare their two children for the possibility of their father serving the maximum five-year prison term.
``I have to try and help them deal with this,'' she said, asking for her husband's release to have his help as well. ``Our children are our first priority.''
Prosecutor Deisy Rodriguez noted the pilots were convicted of ``a very serious and a very dangerous felony in which they put many lives at risk.'' Fellow prosecutor Hillah Katz argued that they posed an unusual risk of disappearing because they have the connections to get to planes and can fly them as well.
The judge called it ``horrible'' and ``sad'' that Hughes cared more about his time in the bar than he cared about his children and their future. Young, whose career on the bench exposed him to many drunken-driving cases, sternly added he didn't want to hear any more about the crime being a nonviolent offense.
Attorneys on both sides had no comment leaving court.
Earlier, Hughes' attorney James Rubin said he has visited his client in jail and ``he's not doing too well.''
Young said he would take half a day to hear sentencing arguments July 20 but does not plan to rule until the next day. The pilots can ask to be freed on bail again after sentencing based on their plans to appeal.
Both pilots surrendered their passports, were stripped of their commercial licenses and were barred from flying private planes while on bail...
...Cloyd of Peoria, Ariz., and Hughes of Leander, Texas, wore red jail jumpsuits to court for the first time to attend the hearing. They sat in a jury box with other jailed defendants long after their 15-minute hearing was over.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...home-headlines