How much money would the sponsor have paid, and would it have been worth more than the cost of the crashed plane? I have no idea what planes cost, or how much sponsors pay, but this struck me as unlikely to be profitable (even before the costs of his criminal prosecution).
The plane he crashed was a real beater, not worth much at all.
He bought the plane specifically for this stunt a few weeks before, he did not use his normal plane. He paid $5,000 for the plane and $5,000 for the helicopter recovery of the wreckage. He received $8,000 from the Ridge Wallet sponsorship.
Here's the relevant quotes-
>Inspector Krantz provided me a receipt he obtained from the company Ridge Wallet. The receipt showed an $8,000 payment to JACOB for the sponsored ad shown on JACOB’s YouTube video.
> An FAA Aircraft Bill of Sale for N29508, Taylorcraft BL65, serial number 2351 showed that, effective October 06, 2021, Laura Smith (seller) transferred ownership of the aircraft to JACOB (purchaser). The sale price listed on the form was $5,000.
> On January 05, 2022, Sinton provided Krantz a written statement via e-mail. I reviewed the statement and learned the following: (1) JACOB called SINTON a few days before December 10, 2021, to lift his wrecked Taylorcraft airplane out of the forest; (2) JACOB said he was cleared to salvage the plane; (3) On December 10, 2021, Sinton flew his helicopter and met JACOB and a friend at Rancho Siquoc (Santa Maria, California); (4) Sinton flew JACOB and his friend to the wreckage and dropped them off with straps and shackles; (5) Sinton landed in an open field nearby, put on the helicopter long line and returned to the wreckage site; (6) Sinton hooked onto the plane and flew it to JACOB’s trailer; (7) Sinton sent JACOB an invoice for $4,950; and (8) On December 31, 2021, JACOB’s friend “Steve Dozier” paid Sinton $5,000 on behalf of JACOB.