Despite all the Facebook fans, late night talk show appearances, and general folk hero status bestowed upon Steven Slater late this summer, the disgruntled flight attendant owned up to his digressions in a New York court yesterday.
The fed up JetBlue employee infamously quit his job August 9 by yelling a few obscenities, releasing the plane’s emergency landing chute, stealing a beer, and fleeing onto the tarmac at JFK. Slater immediately rocketed to Internet stardom (more than 200,000 people still like his Facebook fan page) and was heralded as a symbol for the working class, someone who finally made the dramatic exit many public-facing employees wish they had the gall to pull off.
Well, it was a nice ride while it lasted. Slater pleaded guilty to both second-degree attempted criminal mischief (a felony) and fourth-degree attempted criminal mischief (a misdemeanor) in front of Judge Patricia Hirsch.
As part of the plea deal, Slater must go to a year of counseling and treatment. If he completes the year to the judge’s satisfaction, he’ll only be charged with the misdemeanor; if he doesn’t, he could spend up to three years in prison.