Via a reader tip comes this news that sentence for Heather Cho who was at the center of the Nut Rage case has been announced:
Members of the media try to get pictures of a bus carrying Cho Hyun-ah, the former vice president of Korean Air Line Co., through the windows of the Seoul Western District Court after her trial in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015. A Seoul court on Thursday sentenced Cho to a year in prison for aviation law violations that stemmed from her inflight tantrum over how she was served macadamia nuts.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
An onboard tantrum dubbed “nut rage” culminated Thursday in a one-year prison sentence for Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-ah, a humiliating rebuke that only partially quelled public outrage at the excesses of South Korea’s business elite.
Cho, the daughter of Korean Air’s chairman, achieved worldwide notoriety after she ordered the chief flight attendant off a Dec. 5 flight, forcing it to return to the gate at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
Head of cabin service at the time of the incident, Cho was angered she had been offered macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a dish. A heated and physical confrontation with members of the crew in first class ensued.
A Seoul court said Cho, 40, was guilty of forcing a flight to change its route, obstructing the flight’s captain in the performance of his duties, forcing a crew member off a plane and assaulting a crew member. It found her not guilty of interfering with a transport ministry investigation into the incident. Cho pleaded not guilty and prosecutors had called for three years in prison.
Cho, in custody since Dec. 30, wiped away tears with a tissue as a letter expressing her remorse was read to the court by head judge Oh Seong-woo.
It included details about how Cho, one of the richest women in South Korea who regularly flew first class, was adjusting to the basic conditions in prison and reflecting on her life. “I know my faults and I’m very sorry,” Cho said in her letter. [Associated Press]
You can read the rest at the link, but I am surprised she received that much time in prison. Usually you see these business tycoons get rolled into the court in wheelchairs claim they are sick, show their remorse, and then receive suspended sentences. Maybe Cho should have come to court in a wheelchair because by Korean business tycoon standards she got slammed pretty good for what she did. This just goes to show what a nerve she struck with the Korean public that no one in the legal or political circles were willing to stick their necks out to help her. With that all said, with time served and good behavior she will likely be quietly released from prison in a few months.
If only we had swift and certain justice for the elitist brats in our country too.
guitard
9 years ago
“I am surprised she received that much time in prison.”
That was just how long she was sentenced to be in prison. How long she is actually incarcerated might be less.
MTB Rider
9 years ago
To be honest, even “real” criminals don’t always do all their time. Time off for Good Behavior is still a thing in Korea.
She got a year, she’s been behind bars since what? 30 Dec? I expect her to walk in April, or May at the latest. Buddha’s Birthday would be a good time, if a bit later than I would expect.
If only we had swift and certain justice for the elitist brats in our country too.
“I am surprised she received that much time in prison.”
That was just how long she was sentenced to be in prison. How long she is actually incarcerated might be less.
To be honest, even “real” criminals don’t always do all their time. Time off for Good Behavior is still a thing in Korea.
She got a year, she’s been behind bars since what? 30 Dec? I expect her to walk in April, or May at the latest. Buddha’s Birthday would be a good time, if a bit later than I would expect.