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A man granted legal permanent resident status in 2018 from Mexico pleaded guilty last Tuesday June 30 to stabbing another passenger on a flight from Seattle, Washington, to Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 24, 2024, Julio Alvarez Lopez, punched, hit, and stabbed another passenger on a flight with a dangerous homemade weapon, consisting of three pens bound together with hair bands.
The victim suffered injuries to the body and eye area, requiring stitches. After Lopez stopped stabbing the victim, he began walking towards the front of the aircraft and was restrained for the remainder of the flight.
Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor the publicly available federal court filings identify the victim by name.
Lopez was taken into custody by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department upon landing.
During an interview in which Lopez waived his Miranda rights, he admitted that he armed himself with his homemade weapon, selected the victim because the victim had been looking at him in a harassing way, and attempted to murder the victim by shoving the homemade weapon into the victim’s brain.
Lopez pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with sentencing scheduled for September 22, 2026.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Although the statutory maximum depends on the specific subsection charged, a federal assault with a dangerous weapon conviction can carry a substantial prison sentence, potentially up to 10 years under the applicable federal assault statute.
A conviction for a serious federal violent offense can trigger removal proceedings against a lawful permanent resident.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
