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Douglas Hughes,
62, a mail carrier from Ruskin, Florida, pleaded guilty in U.S.
District Court to one felony count of operating as an airman
without an airman's certificate.
A date for Hughes's sentencing has not been set but his
attorney, Mark Goldstone, asked Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to
give him probation. He faces a maximum penalty of three years in
prison.
Hughes had rejected two plea deals. He had called his April 15
stunt an act of civil disobedience and contended that his case
would bring attention to the need for campaign finance reform.
Hughes was arrested after piloting the gyrocopter from
Pennsylvania and landing on the west lawn of the Capitol. He was
carrying a letter for each of the 535 members of Congress.
Hughes was fired from the U.S. Postal Service after the flight,
which was among the most high-profile in a series of security
lapses in the U.S. capital.
Hughes had faced six charges, including violating aircraft
registration requirements and breaching national defense
airspace. Aircraft are banned from flying in the area of the
Capitol and White House without permission.
A gyrocopter resembles a minimalist helicopter with an unpowered
rotor and separate propeller.
The flight exposed security lapses and showed the need for
improved information-sharing and air security technology, the
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said
in a report in August.
(This story corrects age in second paragraph, 62 instead of 61)
(Editing by Bill Trott)
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