A 19-year-old North Hollywood man has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for aiming a laser pointer at a commercial aircraft -- a steep punishment going well beyond the year federal prosecutors were seeking.
"In this case the judge really felt it was serious behavior and he wanted to make sure that people understood it was not a joke," Los Angeles federal prosecutor Melissa Mills said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Defendant Adam Gardenhire remains free on bond pending a hearing next month in which he is seeking to avoid prison pending the outcome of an appeal.
He was sentenced in Los Angeles on Monday by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, a President Ronald Reagan appointee. It is believed to be the longest term handed down for a single count of "knowingly" aiming a laser beam at an aircraft.
The defendant was indicted (.pdf) on two counts of pointing a laser and pleaded guilty to one charge. He was accused of aiming the laser pointer at a NetJet Cessna Citation as it was landing at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank last year. The green beam hit the pilot in the eye, temporarily blinding him. A Pasadena police helicopter investigating the incident was shot by the beam, too, but the pilot's vision was not affected.
Defense attorneys, who did not respond for comment, were seeking two years of probation and community service.
The maximum penalty was five years for each charge.
