A federal jury convicted an Aurora man today of groping a woman as she napped last year on a flight from Las Vegas, where she and her husband had just celebrated their 34th anniversary.



Prosecutors said it marked Srinivasa S. Erramilli's third conviction for the same offense since 1999.



The jury deliberated about three hours before convicting the Indian national, 45, of abusive sexual contact. He faces up to 2 years in prison.



"This case was allowed to be successfully prosecuted because of the willingness of the victim to speak up and not dismiss what happened, which was a serious offense," said Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago.



Erramilli was sentenced to probation after he was convicted in Cook County court of fondling the breast of a woman who sat in front of him on a flight from Detroit to Chicago in 1999. Three years later, he was sentenced in federal court in Detroit to three years' probation after he was convicted of abusive sexual contact for groping the breast of another woman aboard a flight from San Jose, Calif., to Detroit.



Prosecutors said Erramilli was the last passenger to board the Southwest Airlines flight to Chicago's Midway Airport in June 2011 and was seated in the only vacant seat -– between the victim, who had chosen a window seat to sleep, and her husband, who took the aisle seat for easier access.



The victim, who was wearing shorts, told the jury that she was awakened twice on the flight, first by feeling something brush against her thigh and then when she felt pressure on her thigh, but she was uncertain of what had happened.



She then closed her eyes but did not fall asleep. Erramilli reached underneath the leg of her shorts and rubbed and grabbed her thigh, she said.



She testified that she struck Erramilli several times and called him a "pig or a pervert."



During her testimony, the woman demonstrated how Erramilli grabbed at her with the assistance of a federal prosecutor as both sat in chairs in front of the jury. Other passengers and flight attendants also testified during the trial.



Erramilli appeared nervous while awaiting the jury's arrival into the courtroom on word of the verdict. He showed little reaction at word of his guilt but minutes later dropped his head into his hands and slumped back in the chair.



Prosecutors sought to have Erramilli taken into custody on his conviction, but U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow allowed him to remain free until his sentencing in April. Erramilli, who is working in the U.S. as a software consultant on a work permit, is also subject to immigration proceedings for whether he has overstayed his visa, authorities said.



asweeney@tribune.com