Trevor Jacob Crash and Burn

so if the fed judge can disregard any deal, what's the upside of copping a plea in this case then?
 
dbahn said:
What would have happened to him if he just left the plane where it crashed and kept denying that it was intentional?

That had to have been his initial plan.
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I think the wings tanks full of water would generated some interesting questions.
 
hindsight2020 said:
so if the fed judge can disregard any deal, what's the upside of copping a plea in this case then?
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Because, in practice, judges honor the agreements unless it is something really, really out of left field.
 
eman1200 said:
for the record, I cut in line in 4th grade and got in big trouble but was still able to get my PPL.
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It doesn't surprise me one bit that you're a line cutter. I bet you leave shopping carts in parking spaces too! :eek::eek::eek:
 
Shouldn't be much of a burn with those fire extinguishers... ;)
 
First time offender.??

Maybe sentenced to 18 months, out in 3. Then many you tubes on that 3 months of pure heck.

I mean, have you ever tasted prison food.?? That is enough deterrent to keep me inline...
 
donjohnston said:
Jacob drove the wreckage to Lompoc City Airport and unloaded it in a hangar. He then cut up and destroyed the airplane wreckage and, over the course of a few days, deposited the detached parts of the wrecked airplane into trash bins at the airport and elsewhere, which he admitted in his plea agreement was done with the intent to obstruct federal authorities from investigating the November 24 plane crash.

This is advanced stupid.
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It is exactly this that has him in such deep trouble. His stupid stunt crashing the airplane probably would have got him a slap on the wrist, maybe a fine to save the endangered mosquitos harmed by the crash.

But when the Feds say we need to see the wreckage and you, with intent, recover, destroy, and dispose of the evidence while blatantly lying to investigators, you've crossed another boundary legally. His initial stunt would have just been a civil violation most likely, but the cover-up crossed the line into criminal law.
 
flyingron said:
Nope, the judge is completely unburdened by any agreement the defendant and the prosecutor makes. That's the way it works in federal court. This is a stark difference from a lot of state courts where the judge is bound by both sentencing guidelines and by plea deals. In many cases he can refuse to accept the deal, but if he takes the guilty plea, he is bound by the agreement.
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Yes, I know. My point was that the judge can both accept the deal and impose as high a sentence as he deems appropriate if he sees reason for a greater offense level in the guideline. The plea deal does not have an upper bound on the offense level; just a lower bound (15).
 
Zeldman said:
First time offender.??

Maybe sentenced to 18 months, out in 3. Then many you tubes on that 3 months of pure heck.

I mean, have you ever tasted prison food.?? That is enough deterrent to keep me inline...
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Maybe sentenced to 18 months, out in 15. Club Fed has different rules than your county jail.
 
What he did with the plane was absolutely moronic. What he did with the evidence was a whole new level of stupidity. But 20 years or anything close to that would be absolutely obscene and out of all proportion to the crime committed.
People get hammered, drive drunk and kill people and spend a few years in jail. If I was the defense attorney I'd be citing those crimes that actually have bad judgment + victims versus my case where there is no victim and just bad judgment.

IDK if it's legal but I'd be like "bruh, you have to forfeit all your streamer/you-tube income you got from this and from every future dumb*** stunt you do. Plus go to county jail for a year and think about what you did".
 
hindsight2020 said:
so if the fed judge can disregard any deal, what's the upside of copping a plea in this case then?
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In many cases, the prosecutor agrees to dismiss some charges. While the judge doesn't have to accept the sentencing recommendations, the judge can only sentence based on the remaining charges for which there has been a guilty plea.
 
Silvaire said:
When I was thirteen I decided to try my hand at shoplifting, can't even remember what it was that I took but when I got outside I found that my bicycle had been stolen.
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Karma’s a b!tch!
 
This story proves that stupidity IS a crime.
 
What have you got to lose?
 
I declined due to plans and short notice.
I referred them to Dan Millican. He's a better fit for news type content.
 
Zeldman said:
I mean, have you ever tasted prison food.??
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Almost daily! Let me tell you, while it isn’t what it used to be (used to be much better) most of it ain’t half bad. Fried chicken patties are a personal favorite, and depending on the day, the fish is pretty good.
 
Apologies if this has already been posted. I chose this forum rather than Aviation Mishaps as this seemed more appropriate.

How did this person manage to earn a certificate?

 
Zeldman said:
I mean, have you ever tasted prison food.?? That is enough deterrent to keep me inline...
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Eastman, GA spent a month there working on a gym in a Juvenile facility. Had lunch with the inmates one day. BBQ chicken that I recall was better than anything else in that town.

can he post to youtube in prison?
 
Well after reading the plea agreement it's pretty obvious he's gonna do 18-24 months and it's not even about the lame-brained stunt, it's about lying - plain and simple. It seems to be a youtube culture thing, there's certainly the ego trip aspect when you get a few hundred thousand subscribing fans egging you on coupled with the fact that you're just not the sharpest kid on the block to begin with but if you look at the Trent Palmer case you'll see comments like he could just deny to the FAA that he was the pilot and the burden would be on them to prove he was. They seem to think that lying is a perfectly acceptable way to get out of things or that you have some unalienable right to have a pilot's license.

Trevor should have watched more Hitchcock - you never get away with it

EDIT: Not to completely trash youtube though, heck who doesn't like Cleetus McFarland possibly one of the most successful youtubers of all time.
 
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PPC1052 said:
In many cases, the prosecutor agrees to dismiss some charges. While the judge doesn't have to accept the sentencing recommendations, the judge can only sentence based on the remaining charges for which there has been a guilty plea.
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In this case charging itself was part of the plea agreement (that's not unusual). The only charge is the single count of obstruction of justice (graphic below). The US Attorney has agreed to recommend a sentence no higher than 18 months (assuming Trevor has no prior criminal record).

upload_2023-5-13_8-48-54.png
 
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