A witch doctor who claims to bring "patients" good luck by giving them pet cats and scrubbing their homes with ammonia was led out of court in handcuffs yesterday after jurors convicted him of recklessly taking a hazardous material on a plane in a split verdict.
Tricks of the trade backfired for the unlucky Bernard Williams, who faces up to five years in prison for bringing several jugs of ammonia onto a flight from Florida to La Guardia Airport.
Nearly two dozen passengers were sickened when a container of the toxic cleanser - packed into two cardboard boxes labeled as kitty litter and stowed in the cargo area of a Spirit Airlines plane - sprung a leak and released fumes into the cabin on Feb. 15, 2002.
Jurors convicted the witch doctor of "recklessly" checking the ammonia onto the flight but found he had meant no harm and acquitted him of "willfully" transporting the toxic cleanser.
The case was thrown into turmoil this week when two jurors had to be replaced because of illness. One panelist was hospitalized after complaining of sleeplessness and mysterious pains.
To make matters worse, the self-described "spiritual healer" caused a stir by tossing a peach pit at the prosecutors' table - prompting Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Asaro to speculate that Williams meant to cast a spell.
Brooklyn federal Judge Nina Gershon delivered a stern warning. "I don't care whether it is a peach pit, a feather . . . it is not to happen again," the judge fumed.
Following yesterday's verdict, Gershon threw Williams behind bars based on Asaro's argument that bail previously set at $10,000 was too low to prevent him from fleeing the country
A resident of Connecticut, Williams, 55, owns property on his native island of Dominica and travels frequently to Haiti and London
Williams claims he bought the cleanser and several containers of kitty litter during a visit with friends in Miami. He said he meant to ship the ammonia separately and check only the litter with his baggage, but a store clerk mixed up the products during the packing process.