Trevor Daniel Jacob, a 30-year-old YouTube content creator and former Olympic athlete, has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for orchestrating a small plane crash to generate social media engagement.
This sentence follows Jacob’s admission to intentionally crashing his plane in November 2021, an event documented with multiple onboard cameras and later shared on YouTube under the title “I Crashed My Airplane” on December 23. The motive behind the staged crash was purportedly to promote a sponsorship with a wallet company.
Federal prosecutors in California, who disclosed Jacob’s deliberate actions, revealed that he deceived investigators by claiming he did not know the location of the wreckage. Additionally, he provided false information to a Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector during the inquiry.
Despite being explicitly instructed to preserve the crash site and inform the National Transportation Safety Board, Jacob took active measures to obstruct the federal investigation. On December 10, 2021, he employed a helicopter to extract the wreckage from the Los Padres National Forest in Solvang, California, systematically dismantling and disposing of it, according to the prosecutors.
Earlier this year, Jacob pleaded guilty to charges of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation. The severity of his actions was underscored by prosecutors in a sentencing memorandum, labeling his conduct “daredevil” and asserting that such behavior cannot be tolerated.
Jacob’s defense team requested probation instead of imprisonment, citing the challenges of living alone and how the pandemic led to a series of poor choices. Prosecutors contended that a prison sentence is essential as a deterrent for others contemplating similar dangerous stunts for social media notoriety.
In a letter addressed to the judge, Trevor Daniel Jacob expressed genuine remorse for his actions, acknowledging the repercussions and emphasizing that the Federal Aviation Administration has reinstated his pilot license since the incident.
Prosecutors, however, maintained that a prison sentence is important to dissuade others from performing risky stunts merely for online attention.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/04/us/youtuber-federal-prison-fake-plane-crash/index.html