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Thread: 14 years for laserpointer at heliocopter

  1. #1
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    Default 14 years for laserpointer at heliocopter

    Fourteen-Year Prison Sentence Handed Down in Laser Pointing Case
    The defendant, Sergio Patrick Rodriguez, 26, of Clovis, Calif., was convicted of aiming a laser pointer at a Fresno police helicopter in 2012.
    • Mar 11, 2014
    A federal judge has sentenced Sergio Patrick Rodriguez, 26, of Clovis, Calif., to 14 years in prison for aiming a laser pointer at a Fresno police helicopter in 2012. U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner of the Eastern District of California, whose office prosecuted the case against Rodriguez and his girlfriend, Jennifer Lorraine Coleman, 23, said March 10 that the 14-year term handed down by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill of Fresno is believed to be the longest sentence given in any laser-strike case. Rodriguez and Coleman were convicted of the charge by a federal jury after a three-day trial in Fresno in December 2013. Coleman faces a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine at sentencing May 12, 2014.
    The Air Line Pilots Association, International issued a statement supporting the stiff sentence. "ALPA applauds the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Eastern District of California U.S. District Court, and the Clovis and Fresno Police Departments for their vigilance in the investigation and conviction of this case. ALPA has collaborated with the FBI and local law enforcement to launch a nationwide campaign that raises awareness about the severity of illegal laser attacks on aircraft," it stated. "Law enforcement and emergency transport helicopters are particularly vulnerable to these types of attack, since they typically fly at lower altitudes where laser pointers pose the most danger to an aircraft in flight. Mr. Rodriguez has been convicted of deliberately aiming a high-powered laser at multiple aircraft, and we hope that his sentencing, along with the future sentencing of his accomplice, will help to spread the message to others that intentionally aiming a laser at an aircraft is not a prank, but a federal crime with very serious consequences."
    Rodriguez and Coleman were convicted of using a high-powered green laser pointer to repeatedly strike the cockpit of the "Air 1" helicopter during a clear summer night in 2012. It had responded to the apartment complex where they lived to investigate a report of laser strikes on Air George, an emergency transport helicopter for Children's Hospital of Central California.
    In February 2014, the FBI and ALPA announced the Laser Threat Awareness campaign, which is an effort to alert the public about the threat laser strikes pose and the penalties for such activity. The FBI will offer up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone who intentionally aims a laser at an aircraft. Tips can be submitted online at https://tips.fbi.gov.

  2. #2
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    Good!!

    I doubt if the dumbass will do the full time, but it's still one hell of a "lessons learned" for the couple and any of their idiotic copycat friends who think it might be funny to follow in their footsteps...
    RR

    Metrologic HeNe 3.3mw Modulated laser, 2 Radio Shack motors, and a broken mirror.
    1979.
    Sweet.....

  3. #3
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    I remember when this first came out. People have different views, but I agree they should make an example of someone. Its getting out of hand.
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    Stuka - I know you are a pilot, and Im not trying to start any shit...but the punishment DOES NOT fit the crime - PLEASE don't get me wrong...I just see things differently.

    Sergio should be fined $500.00 and his laser pointer taken away

    like banning 30 round magazines won't stop violence, ruining a dumb guys life won't stop ignorance. Yet the cops that murdered a homeless guy in NM will be awarded the medal of freedom by Obama...and the criminals inside the beltway and wall street will steal from the slaves and get away with EVERYTHING...its an upside down world.

    I hope these cops die a violent death and their children are left without a father just like Sergios kids will be. One pig says buyaahhhh at .50 after shooting him...disgusting...

    Pat B

    laserman532 on ebay

    Been there, done that, got the t-shirt & selling it in a garage sale.

  5. #5
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    if pointer strikes are such a big problem why do they not just coat the screen parts to filter out available pointer wave lenghts ?
    that sentence was a bit harsh five years would have been more than enough to show an example
    When God said “Let there be light” he surely must have meant perfectly coherent light.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by badger1666 View Post
    if pointer strikes are such a big problem why do they not just coat the screen parts to filter out available pointer wave lenghts ?
    that sentence was a bit harsh five years would have been more than enough to show an example
    Because any coating that would filter out all the visible laser wavelenths could also filter out the other lights that a pilot WOULD need to be able to see, such as marker beacons on towers, runway approach lighting, other low-flying aircraft., etc.

    Like I said, unlikely dumbass will serve anywhere near the full term, which might have been a contributing factor in the "severity" of the sentence.
    Keep in mind that the dude deliberately lased MULTIPLE aircraft, including emergency medical transport for a children's hospital, before being caught for lasing the police helicopter.
    RR

    Metrologic HeNe 3.3mw Modulated laser, 2 Radio Shack motors, and a broken mirror.
    1979.
    Sweet.....

  7. #7
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    If the police would have just open fired on him (like the homeless camper), it could have saved the tax payers a lot of money to house this clown and his girlfriend, and rid the planet of this hardened criminal for good. (slight bit of sarcasm)

    And now the "authorities" are offering $10,000.00 bounty for "snitches"... We are the government and we are here to help!
    Pat B

    laserman532 on ebay

    Been there, done that, got the t-shirt & selling it in a garage sale.

  8. #8
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    Lightbulb

    Quote Originally Posted by Laserman532 View Post
    .....but the punishment DOES NOT fit the crime...should be fined $500.00 and his laser pointer taken.....
    Ya, I'm all-for seeing 'convictions' in these cases, but.. 14 yrs (even if he only serves 5..) is pretty lopsided... and, ya, since many will realize that he likely won't serve all 14, the 'scare tactic' ends-up being ineffective.. But, if they, ie: made him do 2-3 yrs of solid, hard-time (...any of his 'big lux-life' aspirations would be pretty much trashed at that mark, anyway..) *and* slap 'im w/ a $150,000. fine, that'll take him 14 yrs of work to pay it off... That'll 'leave an impression'..

    ..Still, there have been other 'hi-profile cases', and yet we - still - have thousands of idiot-strikes a year.. Seems they're not 'getting the message'.. Perhaps that's because (..as you always hear me biotching-about..) the SELLERS are really the ones that could actually help make a difference.. Just don't frigging SELL Class IIIb and IV pointers to just whomever has the $$!!! Sure, you might try 'sales to ONLY those with a light-show Variance', but.. that could be 'sidestepped' (ie: get some desperate / unscrupulous Co with "a Variance" ie: Laserwart USA.. to import / sell 'under' theirs..).. but.. If there ARE-no 'wholesale sales' to just whomever has the cash, well.. ya can't point something potentially-dangerous at a plane that ya don't have.

    ..and, I don't see the probability that these are the 'hobby-guys' of the world, I mean.. the people that have enough intelligence / astuteness to buy all the OEM-parts / successfully-assemble a powerful-portable, are - in theory - less likely to go out and do something so incredibly-neanderthal with it, and 'risk' everything.. They would - likely - at least have gleaned '1/2 a clue' going thru the 'homework process', etc, so.. Again.. Education over Legislation. ..and who better to help do that then SELLERS.. Argh, I rant..

    ..re: that Vid, Ugh, ya pretty-sik.. What a bunch of *ussies... What - 3 grown / trained men, 2 AR-15s (?) a 12 Ga. and a Shep... against a guy w/ "a knife"??? Srsly? Sheesh, talk about overkill... @ 2:20-25.. '..*... he's dead, man!.' Geez, ya think?? Poor guy.. Oh well... ya can't fix Stupid, no matter which 'side of the badge' it's on...

    RIP, Camperman... :/
    j
    ....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...

  9. #9
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    14 yrs just doesn't feel right to me. I'd rather see it handled with a huge fine and probation. Seeing as how the majority of people won't hear about this I don't think it is an effective example.

  10. #10
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    They could wear laser glasses for landing without an issue. Shutter glasses could work as well. They could also target the beam and fire back. If this was overseas they would either shoot him or take his eyes out.

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