LOS ANGELES – A Northern California man has been arrested on a federal legal criticism for allegedly flying a drone over and taking pictures of Vandenberg Area Pressure Base, the Justice Division introduced as we speak.
Yinpiao Zhou, 39, of Brentwood, is charged with failure to register an plane not offering transportation and violation of nationwide protection airspace.
Zhou was arrested Monday at San Francisco Worldwide Airport previous to boarding a China-bound flight and made his preliminary look Tuesday in United States District Courtroom in San Francisco.
Zhou stays in federal custody pending prosecutors’ enchantment of a federal Justice of the Peace choose’s determination to launch him. No plea was taken and his arraignment is anticipated to be scheduled in U.S. District Courtroom in Los Angeles within the coming weeks.
“This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a navy base and took photographs of the bottom’s structure, which is in opposition to the regulation,” stated United States Legal professional Martin Estrada. “The safety of our nation is of paramount significance and my workplace will proceed to advertise the protection of our nation’s navy personnel and amenities.”
In accordance with an affidavit filed on December 8 with the criticism, on November 30, 2024, drone detection programs at Vandenberg Area Pressure Base in Santa Barbara County detected a drone flying over the bottom. The drone programs detected that the drone flew for practically one hour, traveled to an altitude of just about one mile above floor degree, and originated from Ocean Park, a public space subsequent to the bottom. Base safety personnel went to the park, spoke to Zhou and one other individual accompanying him, and discovered that Zhou had a drone hid in his jacket – the identical one which flew over the bottom.
Brokers later searched Zhou’s drone pursuant to a federal search warrant and noticed a number of pictures of Vandenberg Area Pressure Base taken from an aerial viewpoint. A search of Zhou’s cellphone confirmed Zhou performed a Google search roughly one month earlier for the phrase “Vandenberg Area Pressure Base Drone Guidelines” and messaged with one other individual about hacking his drone to permit it to fly larger than it may in any other case.
Zhou is a Chinese language citizen and lawful everlasting resident of the US, most not too long ago returning to the US from China in February 2024. The individual accompanying Zhou at Ocean Park most not too long ago entered the US from China on November 26.
A criticism comprises allegations {that a} defendant has dedicated against the law. Each defendant is presumed to be harmless till and except confirmed responsible in court docket.
If convicted, the defendant would face a statutory most sentence of 4 years in federal jail.
The FBI is investigating this matter.
Assistant United States Legal professional Kedar S. Bhatia of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Part and Trial Legal professional Benjamin Koenigsfeld of the Nationwide Safety Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Management Part are prosecuting the case.
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