A New Jersey man has been charged with sexual assault on a flight from Bozeman, Montana, to Dallas, Texas. The charges against Bhaveshkumar Dahyabhai Shukla, 36, of Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey, were announced this week by U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme. Shukla faces a one-count indictment of abusive sexual contact within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.
According to the indictment, the alleged incident occurred on January 26, 2025, aboard an American Airlines flight from Bozeman to Dallas. Shukla is accused of having engaged in non-consensual sexual contact with another passenger. If convicted, he could face a prison sentence of up to two years, a $250,000 fine, and no less than five years of supervised release.
An arraignment for Shukla is slated for April 17, 2025. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, following an investigation by the FBI, ICE, and the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Police.
“The charging documents are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system are available for monitoring the progress of this case. Those who need to review filed documents electronically can establish a PACER account by visiting http://www.pacer.gov/register.html, and access the District Court's calendar via https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.