( CNN ) -- The former JetBlue flight attendant who soared to instant celebrity after deploying an emergency evacuation slide to dramatically exit an airplane in 2010 has been sentenced to a year of probation after completing a mental health treatment program . In accordance with a plea deal reached in Queens Supreme Court in October 2010 , Steven Slater withdrew his guilty plea on Wednesday to a felony charge of attempted second-degree criminal mischief and will serve a year of probation on a misdemeanor charge of attempted fourth-degree criminal mischief , according to a news release from the Queens County district attorney 's office . Slater , 39 , must still pay $ 10,000 in restitution to JetBlue , the price of repairing or replacing the emergency evacuation chute . He made an initial payment of $ 500 and must continue to shell out $ 831.25 each month , the release said . Slater faced up to four years in prison for the felony charge and up to six months in jail for the misdemeanor charge , the release said . Instead , he underwent a year of court-ordered treatment through the Queens Mental Health Court . `` It 's great to see that there is an alternate to hard time for cases that , in my mind , do n't necessarily merit hard time , '' Slater told CNN . `` This was a good alternative . '' Slater called the past year `` long '' and `` challenging . '' He said he spent much of it commuting to the New York treatment facility from Los Angeles , where took care of his ill mother , who died this year . The notorious former flight attendant described the August 9 , 2010 , incident to CNN 's Larry King after his initial sentencing in October of last year . He said that after the flight , which originated in Pittsburgh , landed at John F. Kennedy Airport , he was berated by a passenger whose luggage had been checked because it would not fit in the overhead bin . Slater said he then swiped a few beers from the beverage cart , deployed the evacuation slide and slid out of the plane . He was immediately suspended by JetBlue and proceeded to resign from his post as flight attendant in September 2010 . These days , Slater is spending his time completing a memoir about his years in the airline industry and the day that led to his rise to fame . `` It was kind of a watershed moment , '' he said . `` And now I know if I do n't take care of myself , no one else will . ''
Steven Slater 's probation follows a mental health treatment program . He must still pay $ 10,000 in damages to Slater . He becomes a celebrity after deploying an airplane 's emergency exit slide .