A man who admitted to violating national defense airspace by flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base is expected to be released from custody soon.
Yinpiao Zhou was sentenced Monday morning by a U.S. district judge in Los Angeles to four months in prison with a year of supervised released. He was also ordered to pay a $200 fine and $25 special assessment.
Zhou was a 39-year-old resident of Brentwood in Contra Costa County when he was arrested in December and charged with failure to register an aircraft and violation of national defense airspace.
The Justice Department said he flew a drone over and took photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 30, 2024, launching a drone from a nearby park and flying it about 1.8 miles south so that it was over the base.
The plea agreement states Zhou took 13 pictures of the base while it was overhead and states Zhou knew he was not allowed to do so at the time, saying in the plea agreement the “defendant had previously downloaded software that allowed him to fly in places where he would otherwise be prohibited from flying, like over VSFB."
Zhou, who is reportedly a Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States, pleaded guilty earlier this month to the misdemeanor charge and faced up to a year behind bars. He has been held in a federal jail and prison facility in downtown Los Angeles since his arrest.
As part of the plea agreement, the second charge against Zhou was dismissed.
An exact release date was not provided but officials said it’s expected to be soon.
