A former California Highway Patrol captain from the San Gabriel Valley was sentenced Monday to probation and community service for an incident on a Los Angeles-bound flight in which he slapped a flight attendant’s behind, declared his “love” for the man and exposed himself.
Dennis Woodbury, 50, of Azusa, pleaded guilty in October to one federal count of “abusive sexual contact within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States,” a felony carrying a possible sentence of up to two years behind bars.
Instead, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson ordered Woodbury to serve three years’ probation, including 100 hours of community service, undergo outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment, and abstain from using alcohol, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors say Woodbury drank a bottle of Prosecco on the JetBlue Airways flight on April 13, 2025, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles International Airport. Before the plane took off, Woodbury engaged in “inappropriate conduct” with two flight attendants, prosecutors said.
Court papers state that Woodbury showed one of the flight stewards a pornographic photo, and later told another attendant that the two of them should go on a cruise together.
Just after meal service and while the plane was still in the air, the second flight attendant collected passengers’ meal trays and walked past Woodbury. Woodbury, who was apparently drunk on the sparkling wine, slapped the steward’s butt. He then shouted that he loved the man, according to documents filed in the case.
At another point, court papers state, an attendant was in the plane’s front galley when Woodbury entered, pulled down his trousers and exposed himself. The steward told Woodbury off and denied a request for more wine, and the passenger again pulled down his trousers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
During interviews with law enforcement, the flight attendants confirmed that neither of them consented to Woodbury’s alleged advances, federal prosecutors said.