Plane Thief Pleads Guilty To Trespassing  

The thief who absconded with a Cessna 150 from the Jefferson City Memorial Airport, has ultimately been allowed to plead guilty to a single amended charge of Trespassing. The Auxvasse, MO, resident used a hidden key to gain entrance to the Jefferson City Flying Service last February and removed the Cessna's key from within. He had previously been an employee at the same business.

Kerry L. McCubbin, 24, then started the Cessna and took off for a location near his home, landing in a field where he and the airplane became so mired that a takeoff was not possible. Law enforcement officials caught up with him shortly thereafter. 

Callaway County Prosecutor Bob Sterner originally charged McCubbin with a single count of second-degree burglary for unlawfully entering Jefferson City airport business as well as first-degree tampering for operating a plane without the consent of its owner.

Callaway County Judge Gary Oxenhandler accepted a reduced plea from McCubbin, sentencing him to misdemeanor trespassing and placing him on two years' unsupervised probation.

FMI: www.jeffcitymo.org/cd/airport/airport.html