A YouTuber was sentenced Monday to 6 months in federal prison for obstruction of justice after deliberately crashing his single-propeller plane … to bolster his social media.
Trevor Daniel Jacob, 30, of Lompoc — a former Olympic snowboarder who was facing a max sentence of 20 years — was sentenced to just 6 months by United States District Judge John F. Walter … after pleading guilty to one count of “destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation” on June 30.
Jacobs was originally facing a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Federal prosecutors say in a recent news release that Jacob confessed to orchestrating the crash on November 24, 2021 … posting the pre-planned event to YouTube nearly a month later on December 23, titling it, “I Crashed My Airplane.”
The video sees Jacob flying a single-engine plane from Lompoc City Airport to Mammoth Lakes … before claiming the plane’s engine had failed 30 minutes in.
The footage captures Jacob opening the side door and leaping out to deploy a parachute just as the plane hurtles downward into a crash below.
Prosecutors say he purposely waited two days to report the pre-planned crash to the National Transportation Safety Board, who advised him to preserve the wreckage — though he stalled the investigation, telling them he didn’t know where the plane went down.
Instead, he used a helicopter to lift the wreckage out of the Los Padres National Forest on December 10, 2021 … before dismantling and disposing of it.
During his sentencing Monday, Judge Walter ordered him to surrender to the authorities by Jan. 29 … with Jacobs saying in a statement conveyed by his lawyer: “This experience has been so humbling.”
He added the sentence was the “right decision.”