SASKATOON -- A Manitoba senator's wife has pleaded guilty to causing a disturbance on an Air Canada flight, but a charge of threatening her husband was withdrawn.
Maygan Sensenberger, 23, was given a 12-month suspended sentence with probation. Her husband, 69-year-old Sen. Rod Zimmer, was in court with her Thursday's.
The charges stemmed from a ruckus on a flight from Ottawa to Saskatoon at the end of August and just days before the couple's first anniversary.
Witness gave varying accounts of the seriousness of what happened on the flight.
On witness said Sensenberger became upset when Zimmer started feeling tightness in his chest and the couple began arguing over how seriously Zimmer, a throat cancer survivor, was taking his health.
Police alleged the two were arguing before any health issues surfaced and the argument escalated as the flight got closer to Saskatoon. The Crown told court that one witness said Sensenberger could be overheard saying she would cut Zimmer's throat.
"One never knows how serious these threats are," prosecutor Matt Miazga told a judge at an earlier court appearance.
The defence argued Zimmer never felt threatened by his wife.
"They are very close ... and this is a very difficult time for them," lawyer Leslie Sullivan had said at a previous court appearance.
Sensenberger was initially charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft -- a more serious allegation that carries a life sentence as the maximum penalty. That charge was dropped at an earlier court appearance.
The case took off on the Internet and in the media. The couple's large age difference and a rich Facebook dossier on their relationship fuelled an appetite for the story.
