A YouTuber that purposely crashed his plane in a California national forest for a sponsorship deal has reached a plea agreement.
Trevor Jacob, 29, pleaded guilty to destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation. The YouTuber is facing up to 20 years in prison.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Jacob admitted to downing the plane to promote a wallet. He later retrieved the footage of the aircraft crashing and destroyed it.
On November 24, 2021, Jacob departed from Lompoc City Airport on a solo flight. About 35 minutes into the flight, the YouTuber exited the plane and parachuted to the ground. The airplane subsequently crashed into the Los Padres National Forest.
Jacob made the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) aware of the crash two days later. An investigation was launched by the NTSB, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began its own investigation shortly after.
In the weeks following the incident, Jacob lied to investigators about knowing where the plane’s wreckage was located. In December 2021, he and a friend went to the crash site and recovered the downed aircraft. They took it to his hangar at Lompoc, where he cut up the plane and got rid of the pieces.
On December 23, 2021, Jacob uploaded the video footage of the plane crashing to YouTube. He titled the video “I Crashed My Airplane.” The 13-minute video shows Jacob exiting the aircraft and the plane crashing.
“Jacob admitted in his plea agreement that he intended to make money through the video,” according to the news release.
The FAA revoked Jacob’s pilot license in 2022. He is scheduled to appear in court in the coming weeks.
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