The Florida man who flew a gyrocopter through restricted airspace in Washington, D.C., last April agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of operating a one-man aircraft without a license.
Douglas Hughes told the Associated Press Friday he will bear the consequences of his decision to land the vehicle carrying more than 500 letters for members of Congress on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
“I have always accepted that there would be consequences for what I did,” Hughes said.
In June, the former postal worker told Roll Call a slightly different story, “I don’t think I should be doing hard jail time for a flight that brought attention to corruption in Congress.”
Hughes will make his plea at the Nov. 20 federal court hearing. He faces 9.5 years in prison and fines up to $261,000 for his move to draw national attention to big money’s influence on politics.
Goldstone said prosecutors have said they do not plan to seek more than 10 months in prison, but did not offer an official comment on the case.
