Chicago, Sep 12 (IANS): An Indian techie has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison for sexually groping a Chicago area woman during a flight and faces deportation to India after serving his time.

It was the third time Srinivasa S. Erramilli, 46, had been convicted of touching women during flights, according to the US Attorney's office.

Erramilli, an Aurora resident, was seated next to the woman during a flight from Las Vegas to Chicago in June 2011 when he groped the woman's inner thigh. Erramilli was convicted of abusive sexual contact.

The woman, who is now 65, had been celebrating her 34th wedding anniversary and was on her way back to Chicago with her husband when the incident occurred.

The victim testified at trial that she awoke to Erramilli groping her, yelled at him and struck him.

Erramilli previously had been convicted in a 1999 incident in which he fondled a woman's breast on a flight from Detroit to Chicago, and was convicted in 2002 of groping another woman on a flight from San Jose to Detroit.

District Judge Joan Lefkow also fined Erramilli $5,000 and placed him under court supervision for a year after he is released from custody. He set a hearing for next Wednesday on the government's request to revoke Erramilli's bond.

He is prohibited from airline travel while he is on supervised release and he is subject to deportation to India after being released from custody, the Department of Justice said.