http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/l...5298106.story?coll=green-news-local-headlines
No bail for pilot
By Keach Hagey
Staff Writer
October 7, 2005
WHITE PLAINS -- A Westchester County judge denied bail yesterday to the Bethel man charged in Connecticut and New York with stealing a plane and flying it while drunk, sending him back to the jail he has occupied since June.
Philippe Patricio, 21, pleaded not guilty in July to felony charges of possession of stolen property and
reckless endangerment and misdemeanor charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle, flying while intoxicated and resisting arrest.
Although no bond has been set in New York, he faces $1 million bond in Connecticut.
Westchester County Court Judge Barbara Zambelli said she based her decision on fears that New York might lose jurisdiction over the case if Patricio posted bail.
Because she is not the judge assigned to the case, she deferred a final decision on bail to Westchester County Court Judge Rory Bellantoni, who will return from vacation to hear the request again on Wednesday.
A warrant for Patricio's arrest from the Danbury Police Department awaits him at the door of the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla, N.Y., where he has been incarcerated since June 22, the day he allegedly landed a stolen Cessna on the darkened runway of Westchester County Airport.
Patricio's lawyer, Edwin Camacho, of Danbury, had planned to request a bond of $1 to make his point that his client should not be held without bail, but did not get a chance to discuss dollar amounts. He is hoping to make that request before Bellantoni next week.
Camacho has been trying to negotiate with prosecutors from both states to create a single set of charges that would end the interstate tug of war.
"We are talking about one event that began in one state and ended in the other," he said.
The incident has drawn national attention because it revealed the ease with which someone could break into an airport and steal a plane after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist hijackings.
In response to an outpouring of concern, Gov. M. Jodi Rell appointed a panel over the summer to examine airport security throughout the state. The panel concluded last month that the current voluntary airport security measures were sufficient.
Camacho has repeatedly charged that post-9/11 "hysteria" has affected the way his client has been treated by the courts in both states.
Because Patricio has been incarcerated since the incident, he has not been able to be questioned by Danbury Police Department investigators, according to Camacho and Danbury police spokesmen.
Based mostly on the testimony of his two passengers, the Danbury police concluded in July that Patricio and the teens scaled an 8-foot fence topped with barbed wire to access the approximately $50,000 Cessna, the police spokesman said.
As his time in jail creeps into its fourth month, Camacho said Patricio was holding up, but his family was getting concerned about the amount of time he has spent locked up with other people awaiting trial, many of whom Camacho called "hardened criminals."
A native of Brazil, Patricio came to the United States as a middle school student and most recently worked as a mechanic. His father, Ideraldo Patricio, watched yesterday as his son was led into the courtroom in the same pressed white shirt and dress slacks he has worn to previous court appearances, answering the judge with a polite but firm, "Yes I do, Your Honor. Good morning," when she asked if he spoke English.
Although his client now understands the 9/11 implications of the incident, Camacho said, "He is still somewhat awed by the court's view of the case."
If convicted, Patricio could be sentenced to up to seven years in state prison, according to Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office.
