A 41-year-old Laguna Niguel man who used a semi-automatic rifle to repeatedly fire at an Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter after getting drunk at his birthday party was sentenced Monday, June 8 to nine years in federal prison.
Justin Derek Jennings also was ordered to spend three years on probation following his release from prison, after accepting a plea deal last year in which he admitted to one federal count of attempting to damage, destroy, disable or wreck an aircraft.
In sentencing an apologetic Jennings to nine years behind bars, U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb effectively split the difference between the roughly 10-year sentence sought by federal prosecutors and the seven-year sentence the defense was requesting.
During a party on March 9, 2024, an inebriated Jennings became angry and family members began to leave, according to prosecutors, at which point Jennings retrieved a rifle from his gun safe and fired an entire magazine of ammunition inside the home.
Remaining family members fled and called 911, drawing deputies to the neighborhood. Jennings fired at a sheriff’s helicopter overhead from a second-story window.
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