Six months in prison for voluntarily crashing a plane in order to gain footage from a video posted on YouTube in which his “abuse” was recorded. This is the sentence given to American YouTuber Trevor Jacob, a pilot, parachutist and former professional snowboarder who is known on social media especially for his acrobatic jump videos.
But in December 2021, he “exaggerated” by posting a video in which he lost control of the plane he was piloting and then jumped with a parachute, allowing the plane to crash with no one on board. After the crash, Jacob reported what happened to the National Transportation Safety Board, the US government’s investigative agency that investigates plane crashes, but “left out” some key details. In his report, he said that he did not know the exact location where the plane crashed. In the following weeks, the YouTuber returned to the scene to remove and destroy the plane’s wreckage, disrupting the ongoing federal investigation, according to federal prosecutors in the Central District of California.
The twist last May: Jacob pleaded guilty to obstructing the investigation, and not only that, he also revealed to authorities that the plane crash video was part of a business deal with a company whose products the YouTuber had to advertise. Therefore, the idea arose to shoot a potentially viral “shock” video that could accumulate an avalanche of views.
An act that California judges decided to punish severely: “The defendant showed an extraordinary lack of judgment. Such reckless behavior cannot be tolerated.” The 30-year-old man was punished primarily for obstructing the federal investigation by removing the wreckage of the plane with the help of a helicopter-owning friend. An overall “light” sentence compared to federal prosecutors’ original request, which called for a 20-year sentence. In reality, some doubts had arisen in the weeks following the video’s release: the crash was filmed from different angles, Jacob was already wearing a parachute, and he did not appear to do anything to “save” the plane in the video. Avoid dangerous accident. Doubts were later cleared by the US Department of Justice: “The accident was planned. The reason? The purpose of the video was to appear in the media and social networks to promote a company with which the parachutist YouTuber signed a sponsorship contract. To obtain economic profit.” Jacob’s lawyers requested probation, but the judges ruled that prison time was “necessary to prevent others from attempting this type of demonstration.”
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Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
