Man who landed gyrocopter on Capitol lawn gets 4 months
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida man who landed a one-person gyrocopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington in 2015 as a stunt to protest the influence of money in politics was sentenced Thursday to spend four months in jail.
Hughes has said his April 15, 2015, flight in the bare-bones aircraft was a way to call attention to the influence of big money in politics and protest government corruption.
The former mail carrier from Ruskin, Florida, was carrying letters for each member of Congress on the topic of campaign finance and the tail of his aircraft displayed a postal service logo.
Hughes "craved attention" and "violated important public safety laws because he wanted people to pay attention to his political views," prosecutors wrote in a document filed with the court ahead of sentencing.