By HANA KIM
6 News Reporter
ALCOA (WATE) - An air traffic controller at McGhee Tyson Airport recently made national news when he was caught sleeping on the job.
However, Jonathan Poindexter has also been in hot water with the law before. He was charged with aggravated domestic assault and gun possession in Blount County in 2010.
Poindexter allegedly got upset that his girlfriend was talking to another man when they were at a bar in Maryville. Poindexter poured a drink on his girlfriend and stormed out of the bar.
Court documents state that Poindexter followed his girlfriend and then followed the man to the Waffle House near the airport.
Witnesses told police that Poindexter pulled out a handgun and threatened his girlfriend and the other man.
The FAA says Poindexter was put on leave when the charges surfaced. He was reinstated after an internal investigation.
The FAA is taking steps to fire Poindexter after he slept for five hours on February 19 and seven planes landed safely with the help of another air traffic controller.
6 News asked the FAA why Poindexter was allowed to keep his job. The FAA would not comment specifically about the case, but says in general it looks at convictions and charges very differently.
Records show Poindexter pleaded guilty to gun possession and received judicial diversion. That means the charges can be expunged this year.
The aggravated domestic assault charge against him was dismissed.
Jonathan Poindexter (source: Blount County Sheriff's Office)
