Pop Singer Howie Day Gets Probation

BOSTON -- Pop singer Howie Day won't face any jail time for his rowdy behavior on a Boston-bound American Airlines flight in December.

Day, 25, was ordered on Wednesday to serve one year of probation on a charge of interfering with a flight crew for his behavior on a Dec. 21 flight from Dallas to Boston.

Day, of Brewer, Maine, was returning home for the holidays on American Airlines Flight 2250 when prosecutors say he became verbally abusive to the flight crew.

As conditions of his probation, Day must write letters of apology to American Airlines, as well as the passengers, captain and an attendant aboard the flight. He must also complete an alcohol counseling program, said David Procopio, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley.

Day's attorney, Paul V. Kelly, said Day took a sleeping pill to help him fall asleep aboard the flight, then had a couple of alcoholic drinks.

He disputed prosecutors' description of what happened on the plane, saying it was "inaccurate and overblown."

Prosecutors said he smoked a cigarette, kicked the backs of chairs and was verbally abusive to the flight crew. Kelly said he did not smoke and had a loud altercation with a passenger, not the flight crew.

If Day complies with the conditions of the probation, the charge of interfering with a flight crew will be dismissed.

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