NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The JetBlue flight attendant who slid down an emergency chute in a huff at a New York airport pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted criminal mischief.
Steven Slater will not serve a prison term if he enters a mental health program and receives counseling for substance abuse, WNBC-TV, New York, reported. Under his plea agreement, he received a one- to three-year sentence, suspended if he meets the terms.
Slater must also pay his former employer $10,000, the cost of repairing the emergency chute.
When he abruptly slid out of his job after a dispute with a passenger at Kennedy International Airport, Slater, who took two beers as he left the plane, became an unlikely national hero or at least celebrity.
He said a passenger had hit him on the head with a bag.
"While the public interest was surprising for me, at the end of the day I am a grown-up," Slater said outside the courtroom in Queens. "I must accept responsibility for my actions."
He also thanked his mother and partner for standing by him.
