But Plans To Plead Guilty To One Felony Charge Related To The Incident

The former postal worker who flew an unregistered gyrocopter from Pennsylvania to the lawn of the U.S. Capitol through some of the nation's most restricted airspace may not serve any jail time for his actions.

In a plea arrangement announced Friday, Douglas Hughes said he will plead guilty to one felony count of operating an aircraft without a license. While the charge does carry a possible sentence of three years in prison, Hughes said he accepted the deal where he had rejected two others that also included jail time because his attorney can argue that he should not go to prison for his actions.

Hughes lives in Florida, but he trailered his gyrocopter to Pennsylvania in April and then flew it to the lawn in front of the Capitol building on April 15th in what he said was a protest against money in politics. He carried 535 letters, one addressed to each member of the U.S. House and Senate.

Hughes says he is proud of what he did. "I'm not going to be ashamed to accept a felony conviction," he told Roll Call in a telephone interview.

He added that the part of the settlement that will really hurt is that they will not return his aircraft. There are also legal negotiations over an $11,000 fine imposed by the FAA for the flight. He said that his attorney is trying to reduce the fine because he is now living on Social Security after losing his Postal Service job following his flight.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.faa.gov