A Pennsylvania man is facing up to four years in prison following his actions during the AFC Championship Game between the Ravens and Chiefs late last month.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, 44-year-old Matthew Herbert was charged with three felony counts of operating an unregistered drone, serving as an airman without a certificate, and violating national defense airspace after he flew a drone over the M&T Bank Stadium while the game was going on.
The drone was the cause of the contest being suspended temporarily.
Drones are not allowed to fly within three miles of stadiums seating at least 30,000 people during NFL and MLB events. They are still prohibited an hour before the game starts and an hour after it ends.
Herbert was found when troopers followed the drone to a nearby neighborhood. He told the officers he bought the craft in 2021 and didn’t have training or a license to operate it but used an app.
Found wearing a Ravens jersey, Herbert said he was visiting friends and didn’t know about the restrictions as the app would typically prevent him from operating the device when there were any flight restrictions. He assumed he could go ahead and fly it as there were no such limitations on the day in question.
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Herbert will face a maximum of three years in federal prison for knowingly operating an unregistered drone and knowingly serving as an airman without an airman’s certificate, plus an additional year for willfully violating the U.S. national defense airspace if convicted.
An arraignment date will be set later this month.
