Repeated Overflights Earn Home Confinement

A resident of Guam was sentenced in U.S. District Court of Guam for flying a personal drone over Marine Corps Camp Blaz after being warned to not do so several times.

Billy Cao Cruz, age 54, received two months of home confinement on two counts of violating national defense airspace on September 11, as described in court documents. He was also placed on two years of supervised release and had to pay a special assessment fee of $25, according to U.S. Attorney Shawn Anderson.

Cruz pled guilty to lesser offenses in an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. He could have been imprisoned for up to a year and fined $10,000 if convicted on the original charges.

His plea agreement reads, “Cruz understood the potential threat from China and other foreign adversaries that may be interested in using the footage from his video to target U.S. military installations.”

Cruz uploaded video to his YouTube channel, Planet Guam, that displayed “sensitive footage of a military installation” according to the court. It had drawn nearly 12,000 views before it was removed.

In a sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Leon Guerrero said that Cruz had flown his DJI Mavic Mini 4 Pro over Camp Blaz even after he was warned against doing so in March 2021. And the FBI visited him again in April this year. In May 2025 he was indicted on three felony counts.

Almost all of Guam’s airspace is restricted due to the presence of Camp Blaz, Anderson Air Force Base, and Naval Base Guam.

Anderson’s memo said, “Cruz admitted to continuing to operate a specific drone, citing its fewer restrictions and the absence of notification requirements to local airports. In using this specific drone, Cruz stated, ‘You get away with a lot of things,’”

FMI:  www.justice.gov/