Linden Man Pleads Guilty To Sexual Abuse On A Cross-Country Flight

Thursday, December 4, 2025, 8:45 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- A 41-year-old Linden, New Jersey, man will be facing up to three years in federal prison when sentenced next year, after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a woman aboard a plane flying from Los Angeles, California, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

     According to U.S. Attorney David Metcalf, on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, Vernon Baker, 41, of Linden, New Jersey, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Anita B. Brody to a federal information charging him with one count of Abusive Sexual Contact on an Aircraft.

Judge Brody Schedules Sentencing For March 3, 2026

     Following entering his guilty plea, Judge Brody accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for March 3, 2026. At that time, Baker faces up to three years in federal prison, at least one year of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

According To The Charging Information Filed With The Court

     According to the charging information and statements made during yesterday’s plea allocution, on October 30, 2024, aboard a commercial flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, Baker made sexual advances toward a woman seated next to him. After the woman refused his advances, Baker took out his penis and forcibly attempted to get the woman to touch him. Baker then grabbed her breast over her clothing and untied her pants.

     The woman, traumatized and in distress, jumped up and fled to the back of the plane’s cabin, where she reported the sexual assault to flight attendants. Baker was taken into custody upon the plane landing in Philadelphia.