LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Yinpiao Zhou, a Chinese citizen arrested in December for flying a modified drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base and taking pictures, was sentenced to four months of prison time, one year of supervised release, and $225 in fines and special assessments Monday morning.
Zhou pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of violation of national defense airspace on March 10, 2025, as part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Zhou has already served his prison term and is expected to be released soon from MDC Los Angeles.
Zhou was initially charged with failing to register an aircraft that was not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, and ultimately pleaded guilty to his second charged count as part of the deal stated the plea agreement.
The affidavit filed alongside the original federal criminal complaint, on Nov. 30, 2024, detailed that a drone detection system at Vandenberg Space Force Base detected a drone flying near the base.
The drone detection system recorded that the drone flew for almost one hour, traveled to an altitude of approximately one mile above ground level, and was launched from Ocean Park just south of the base stated the Department of Justice.
The November affidavit noted that on Nov. 30, a "sensitive payload developed for the National Reconnaissance Office had been launched to orbit".
According to 49 U.S.C. 44809, unregistered recreational drone use prohibits flying higher than 400 feet above ground level as well as requires that recreational drone pilots maintain a line of sight of their aircraft.
Security personnel from Vandenberg went to the park and spoke with a man, later identified as 39-year-old Yinpiao Zhou, and another man who was accompanying him, and learned that the 39-year-old had a drone concealed inside of his jacket during the conversation explained the Department of Justice.
The concealed drone was confirmed to have been the one that flew over the military installation stated the Department of Justice.
Zhou admitted during an interview with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he flew his drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base intentionally and had downloaded software onto the drone to "bypass the drone's built-in restrictions to prevent it from taking off and flying in no-fly zones" stated the affidavit.
According to the Department of Justice, the other man at Ocean Park was not charged and allowed to board a flight back to China from San Francisco International Airport that Zhou was also ticketed to board before his arrest in December.
Yinpiao Zhou sentenced after plea deal for flying drone over Vandenberg SFB and taking photos News Channel 3-12.
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