Conrad Hughes Hilton III, Paris Hilton's youngest brother, will plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of simple assault Tuesday in a July 2014 incident in which he allegedly threatened to kill crew members and the co-pilot of a British Airways flight.
Federal prosecutors agreed to recommend probation for Hilton, 21, in a plea deal that saw them drop felony charges of interfering with a flight crew, which could have sent the young millionaire to prison for 20 years, according to court documents.
The FBI said in the original complaint that Conrad, the great-grandson of the Hilton hotel chain's founder, had to be restrained by five flight attendants on board British Airways Flight 269 last July during a series of profanity-laced tirades in which he accused the flight crew of "taking the peasants' side," threatened to fight the pilot, accused a fellow passenger of planning to "gay rape" him and threatened to kill a co-pilot and a flight attendant.
He also allegedly told the co-pilot, "If you wanna square up to me, bro, then bring it on and I will [EXPLETIVE] fight you," according to an affidavit.
In the plea deal filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, attorneys for Hilton acknowledged that Hilton did smoke tobacco and marijuana in a lavatory during the flight and that Hilton did make a threat against a flight attendant. Prosecutors stipulated that the flight attendant didn't believe that Hilton actually intended to kill him. None of the other allegations will be pursued, according to the agreement.
Hilton's attorney, celebrity lawyer Robert Shapiro, said at the time Hilton was arrested last month that his client was most likely under the influence of sleeping pills during the flight.