FORT WORTH, Texas -- A professional wrestler who 'head-butted' an airline pilot during a flight from the Caribbean has been convicted of misdemeanor assault, and faces up to six months in jail.
Chris Adams of Dallas was convicted Tuesday for attacking a co-pilot on an American Airlines flight.
In addition to a jail term, he faces fines of $500.
U.S. District Judge Eldon B. Mahon will sentence Adams next month.
The jury rejected a felony charge of interfering with a flight crew member, which could have meant 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000. If Adams, a native of Great Britain, had been convicted on the felony, he also could have been deported.
During the trial, testimony showed Adams head-butted American co-pilot John Bentley three times during a June 30 flight after Bentley tried to subdue the wrestler. Adams became unruly because flight attendants refused to serve him more alcohol.
Bentley was not seriously hurt. He suffered a cut on his nose before other wrestlers on the flight to Dallas helped subdue Adams.
'There was no excuse for him to do what he did,' Mahon told jurors after the verdict was announced. 'He hurt not only himself, but professional sports. It hurts professional wrestling.'
After his conviction, Adams said the trial was 'more nerve-racking than wrestling before 50,000 fans.'
