Sentencing in attack on Southwest flight is delayed when Northern California woman is arrested again

A Sacramento-area woman’s sentencing in a bloody attack on a flight attendant was delayed because she was in jail after a drunken-driving arrest.

Vyvianna M. Quinonez, 28, of Antelope, was out on bond and awaiting sentencing when she was pulled over on Jan. 28 by a California Highway Patrol officer who reportedly saw her weaving and swerving, according to court documents obtained by the website Law & Crime.

Quinonez reportedly admitted having “a couple of drinks” and blamed her intoxication on “the small size of her stomach” after gastric bypass surgery. She also told the officer she had been arguing on the phone with her boyfriend while driving.

The location of the arrest was not specified in the court documents, but Quinonez ended up in a jail in California’s Eastern Judicial District, which includes Sacramento. Lawyers for both sides said that interfered with preparations for her scheduled sentencing on March 11 in San Diego, in the Southern District. A judge rescheduled the sentencing for May 13.

Quinonez had pleaded guilty in December to a federal charge of interfering with a flight attendant. On a Southwest flight from Sacramento to San Diego on May 23, 2021, she had punched a flight attendant who had directed her to comply with flight regulations as the plane began its descent. The attendant suffered injuries including three broken teeth and a facial cut that required stitches.

In a plea deal, a felony assault count was dropped. The interference count carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

At the time of the plea, prosecutors indicated a likely recommendation of four months in custody and six months of home confinement, San Diego TV station KGTV reported.