Man gets 9 years in prison in 'brazen' sex assault on flight

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DETROIT — Dec 13, 2018, 3:08 PM ET

An Indian man was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting a sleeping woman during an overnight flight from Las Vegas to Detroit.

Prabhu Ramamoorthy, who was jailed after being accused of molesting the woman on an overnight flight in January, was sentenced in federal court in Detroit. A native of India, Ramamoorthy was in the U.S. on a work visa and will be deported after his prison term.

Investigators say Ramamoorthy was in a middle seat sitting next to the victim, and his wife was sitting next to the aisle. The 23-year-old victim said he unzipped her pants, unbuttoned her shirt and molested her with his hands while she slept.

Prosecutors called it a "brazen" assault and had asked for an 11-year prison sentence. Defense attorneys had sought a prison term of less than 10 years, arguing Ramamoorthy's "life as he knew it is over." He lived in the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills

A federal criminal complaint alleged that Ramamoorthy told an FBI agent that he tried to touch the woman inappropriately. He was convicted by a jury in August following a five-day trial.