A Pennsylvania man must serve one year of probation for flying a drone over M&T Bank Stadium, interrupting the AFC championship game between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs.
Matthew Hebert, 44, of Concord Township in Delaware County, pleaded guilty on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to knowingly or willfully violating U.S. national defense airspace, according to court records.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles D. Austin also ordered Hebert to pay a $500 fine. The sentence is what federal prosecutors recommended as part of the plea agreement.
His attorney, Justin Lake, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The NFL suspended the AFC championship game on Jan. 28 because of an “unidentified and unapproved drone incursion,” FBI Special Agent David Rodski wrote in an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.
Officials called an “administrative timeout” not long after the Chiefs scored a touchdown in the first quarter. CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz said the drone was “interfering too close to the play.”
Maryland State Police troopers tracked the drone, which landed near a house on South Sharp Street near West Lee Street in Otterbein. FBI agents also went out to the home.
Hebert told investigators that he had been flying the drone — a DJI Mini 2 — but assumed that he was allowed. That’s because the app that he used to operate the drone did not prevent him from doing so, which happened in the past when there were temporary flight restrictions.
Law enforcement reported that Hebert did not know until troopers told him that he had disrupted the game. He did not have a drone license or training.
In a previous statement, U.S. Attorney Erek Barron said, “Illegally operating drones poses a significant security risk that will lead to federal charges.”
The Chiefs beat the Ravens 17-10 and went on to win Super Bowl LVIII.
