A Long Island man was sentenced Monday to six months in prison for groping a fellow passenger during an overnight Delta Air Lines flight to New York’s JFK Airport, an incident that the victim described as having lasting emotional impact.

Uriel Kaykov, 36, of Great Neck, was convicted of misdemeanor assault for touching a 26-year-old woman without her consent on Delta flight 2257, which departed from Phoenix on June 15, 2022. The victim, returning home after attending a youth ministry retreat, was seated by the window when Kaykov moved into the adjacent middle seat after swapping places with his cousin, according to prosecutors.

The woman fell asleep shortly after takeoff but woke to a “weird” sensation she initially could not identify. After briefly going to the restroom and returning to her seat, she awoke again to find Kaykov’s hand rubbing her over her clothing near the vaginal area, prosecutors said.

She immediately reported the incident to a flight attendant, who relocated her seat, assisted with her belongings, and alerted the cockpit crew. Upon landing, law enforcement officers detained Kaykov, who denied the allegations, stating he was married and had been asleep for most of the flight.

Kaykov was indicted in December 2024 on a federal charge of abusive sexual contact aboard an aircraft. He entered a guilty plea to the lesser misdemeanor assault charge on August 21, three days before his scheduled trial.

In a written victim impact statement submitted by federal prosecutors, the victim detailed ongoing trauma resulting from the assault. She described suffering from regular nightmares, persistent anxiety, disrupted sleep, and emotional distress that have impaired her personal and professional life. “I grieve the version of me that existed before that flight,” she wrote. “No one should have to carry this.”

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin delivered the sentence in Brooklyn Federal Court. Kaykov is expected to begin serving his term by October 5.