zlacker

>>tafda+(OP)
This is a plea deal, no one is going to plea to the maximum, which in this case is 20 years. The punishment can also be a fine [1], which may be fitting if the goal was profit from a YouTube video.

When news articles mention the maximum, especially in headlines, it feels a bit misleading. It seems there's a decent chance there is little or no prison.

[1]https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1519

>>pigbea+77
Relevant here is Popehat’s “Whale Sushi. Sentence: ELEVENTY MILLION YEARS.”

https://www.popehat.com/2013/02/05/crime-whale-sushi-sentenc...

>>542458+Z8
Popehat nailed it: breathless headlines proclaimed "up to" 67 years in federal prison, he ended up with 2 years of probation.

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sushi-chef-whal...

>>ripper+Tb
The problem for Popehat was that eating sei whales is "apparently non cool"? Seriously?

All cetaceans are protected by law, morons!. We don't even know how many species of fin whales exist (one was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico in 2023) and you want sushi? Go f*k yourselves popehats!. Thousands of people spent blood, sweat and tears for the last 60 years working really hard for saving them.

If we let it pass unpunished just because "my cultcha" the calling effect will be catastrophic. Deliberately crashing a plane against a natural park is not different. Is a test. If it goes unpunished you are fully giving the castle keys to any criminals trying to make a profit of the same stunt, and they will.