(Los Angeles) An American YouTuber who deliberately organized the crash of his plane to film himself escaping by parachute before the plane crashed and generate online views thanks to this sensational video, has sentenced to six months in prison on Monday.
Viewed several million times, this video from November 2021 showed Trevor Jacob, an athlete fond of extreme sports, ejecting from his plane over California with his selfie stick in hand, after an apparent technical problem.
Spectacular, the incident was filmed from every angle by cameras attached to the device.
But this crash was in reality orchestrated from A to Z by this experienced pilot in order to promote a company with which he had signed a partnership, explained the US Department of Justice in a press release.
In his video, the skydiver – who also represented the United States in snowboarding at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics – showed off a wallet made by his sponsor.
Mr. Jacob “most likely committed this crime with the aim of generating media and social media coverage for financial gain,” prosecutors in charge of the case said. “This kind of daredevil behavior cannot be tolerated. »
The 30-year-old athlete was convicted of obstructing a federal investigation. He would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
After the crash, he told authorities he did not know where the plane had crashed.
But the investigation revealed that he himself recovered the wreckage with a friend using a helicopter, before cutting the plane into small parts to throw it in trash cans.
He also admitted to lying by providing investigators with a false report, indicating that the plane had encountered a technical problem.
The YouTuber “showed an exceptional lack of judgment in committing this offense,” prosecutors added.