WHITE PLAINS - The unlicensed pilot who got drunk, stole an airplane, flew it from Connecticut to New York and landed it at a closed airport, was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison.

Because he has already served nine months, 21-year-old Philippe Patricio of Bethel, Conn., is eligible for immediate release, but he still faces airport security charges in Connecticut.

Patricio's joyride, with two friends, won wide attention because it seemed to demonstrate lax security at small airports despite the 2001 terrorist attacks.

He pleaded guilty in January to reckless endangerment, drunken flying and resisting arrest. He admitted taking a single-engine Cessna from Danbury Municipal Airport in Connecticut in the early hours of June 22, drunkenly flying it for three hours and resisting arrest when he landed at the closed Westchester County Airport.

Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano said at the time that when the cockpit doors were opened “a significant number of beer cans” fell to the tarmac.

Patricio, though unlicensed, said before an earlier court appearance that he had enough training to fly the plane and never meant any harm.

AP-ES-03-08-06 1514EST