BOSTON (AP) – An Arizona executive was convicted on Tuesday of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman seated next to him on a flight from Dallas to Boston.

Deepak Jahagirdar, 55, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was convicted by a federal jury of sexually abusing and having abusive sexual contact with the 22-year-old woman.

The woman, traveling alone in 2002, told authorities that she fell asleep early on the flight and awoke to find that Jahagirdar had covered her with a blanket, unbuttoned her pants and had his hand inside her genitals.

The woman left her seat and alerted the flight crew. Jahagirdar, a marketing manager for a health care company, was arrested by Massachusetts State Police when the flight landed at Logan International Airport in Boston.

The woman’s DNA was found on Jahagirdar’s hands, according to prosecutors.

The case was transferred to federal jurisdiction because the assault occurred in mid-flight. Jahagirdar was arrested on the federal charges at his home on Jan. 13, 2004.