Man sentenced to 30 months in prison after “lasering” two aircraft in 2012
In October, 19-year-old Adam Gardenhire pled guilty
to aiming a laser pointer at a private aircraft and a police
helicopter. On Monday, a federal judge in California sentenced the
defendant to 30 months in prison.
Aiming such a laser at an aircraft
is now a federal crime under a law signed by President Barack Obama in
February 2012. Gardenhire is believed to be the second person anywhere
in the United States sentenced under the new law. In addition to the
19-year-old, four more Californians have been indicted on similar charges this month. (The first person sentenced under the new law was a Florida man, who was sentenced to six months, in August 2012.)
The North Hollywood man pointed a “commercial-grade green
laser” at the two aircraft on March 29, 2012, causing the Cessna pilot
to “suffer vision impairment that lasted for hours.” The Pasadena Police
Department helicopter pilot, meanwhile, “was wearing protective gear
and did not suffer eye damage or vision impairment as a result of the
laser,” according to a statement the Office of the United States
Attorney Central District of California sent to Ars.
Less than a month after the incident, Gardenhire was arrested
following an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, the
Pasadena Police Department, the Burbank Police Department, the Federal
Aviation Administration, and the FBI.
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