CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A Nebraska man who caused an emergency landing on a flight diverted to Cedar Rapids is now scheduled to hear his sentence. KCRG reports 24-year-old Mario Nikprelaj, of Elkhorn, NE, pleaded guilty in federal court to interference with flight crew members and attendants on September 23rd. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. January 13 in Cedar Rapids. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Nikprelaj was arrested from a SkyWest flight from Omaha to Detroit on July 17. According to a federal complaint, the captain was told about Nikprelaj and flight attendants described him as an “unruly passenger” before take off. Flight attendants told the captain that Nikprelaj was leaving his seat against orders. He flipped off the flight attendants and returned to his seat. He was sat in the plane’s exit row.

According to a criminal complaint, he later tried to open an emergency exit door and fought with other passengers. At one point, he threatened to kill a flight attendant. The flight attendant told him to remain in his seat and he grabbed her arm. The captain called the Eastern Iowa Airport and said he needed to make an emergency landing. The call took place about fifteen miles from the airport.

Passengers helped subdue Nikprelaj until the plane landed at the Eastern Iowa Airport, where he was detained.