Man who landed gyrocopter at U.S. Capitol to plead guilty: lawyer

By John Clarke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Florida man who flew a gyrocopter onto the U.S. Capitol grounds in an effort to advocate for campaign finance reform will plead guilty and face jail time when he appears in federal court this month, his lawyer said Friday.Douglas Hughes, a 61-year-old mail carrier from Ruskin, Florida, is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 20, where he will plead guilty to one felony count of operating without an airman certificate, his attorney, Mark Goldstone, said.Hughes faces up to three years in jail. Goldstone is asking the judge give his client probation.Hughes had earlier rejected two plea deals, calling his illegal April 15 flight an act of civil disobedience and contending that the trial would bring attention to campaign finance.Hughes was arrested after piloting the craft from Pennsylvania and landing on the west lawn of the Capitol as police and tourists looked on. He was carrying a letter for each of the 535 members of Congress."Doug's dramatic act of aerial civil disobedience was a cry that our democracy is in peril unless ordinary citizens feel free to speak up and have their voices heard by their government," Goldstone said in a statement.Aircraft are banned from flying in the area of the Capitol and White House without permission.The flight of the small aircraft, which resembles a helicopter, but has an unpowered rotor and separate propeller, was among the most high-profile of recent security lapses in the U.S. capital.The stunt exposed security lapses and showed the need for improved information-sharing and air security technology, according to a report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released in August.The report also recommended stricter penalties against airspace violations in the U.S. capital and the naming of a lead agency to investigate potential flight incursions.

(Editing by Scott Malone; Editing by Doina Chiacu)