FBI investigates mysterious drones spotted over New Jersey

MS Coast · Dec 5, 2024

Chip said:
Yes they are supposed to be. Hence my analogy. You began by arguing that flying an unregistered drone is not a crime. When I gave you proof otherwise you then argued well its not an arrestable crime which by the way is wrong.

Yes I get it. You now concede flying an unregistered drone is a crime but argue its not an arrestable offense and "no one is going to be arrested only for flying an unregistered drone."

Okay, I get it it. Your position is that flying drone without remote ID is not a crime and no big deal.

Okay, the old "I know nothing to indicate (such and such) now prove me wrong." I have now encouraged you to make a few phone calls and do a little online research and go from there. I am okay with you believing everything is great with the FAA Drone Registration Base.

You have not correctly restated what I said nor what I believe. I'm not going to debate each point.

Flying a drone that is required to be registered without having registered it is certainly a crime, as is any violation of the regulations.

I've never heard of anyone being arrested solely for flying an unregistered drone. Was Dailon Dabney arrested?

It appears that I was was probably incorrect in saying that flying an unregistered drone is not a felony. But I've not seen the documentation of that. I'll try to have a look for the official word later this evening.

In the absence of any evidence or examples of the FAA being unable to respond to requests for drone registrant information by law enforcement, I'll continue to believe that they are complying with such requests.

EDIT: A security violation of a TFR is a Class A Misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison and civil fines of up to $100,000. Here's a trustworthy reference: FAA TFR Violation Punishments

Chip · Dec 5, 2024

MS Coast said:
Well, now. This is interesting. It appears that flying an unregistered drone may indeed be a felony.

But let's look at the court's actual charging documents and the final verdict. The first item you mention is the defense attorney's brief and the second seems to be the prosecution's filing to the court in a subsequent parole violation case. Neither reflect the actual verdict that was handed down by the court.

Actually, there was no trial. There was a plea bargain. Dabney pled guilty to lesser charge to avoid trial and risk of felony conviction. He was sentenced to one year probation which had usual promise to not break any laws. He was later caught driving with weed and no license and failed to keep in touch with probation officer. As a result, probation was revoked and he was sentenced to nine months in custody. He appealed that sentence to the federal appellate court but ultimately dropped it. You are right that I excerpted one passage from Dabney's brief and one passage from the prosecutor's brief in the appeal to keep it as simple as possible. There are other documents in the court file. The one which is missing or redacted is the search warrant. I was very curious to know if law enforcement used his social media to track and charge case (this was the guy who baited cops to find him and said they came to his door but he did not open) but no way to know from the court record.

mavic3usa · Dec 5, 2024

The criminal and civil penalties (when take together, not alone) are super high to essentially convince you to accept the plea bargain and not challenge the law or challenge the charges/arrest/detention/evidence/etc in court because who wants to appear in federal court against drone charges (i.e. you won't win). A felony-level conviction (associate with a federal law) will essentially ruin your life; so much for a "hobby." No wonder very few want to take part in flying a drone; too risky. Once you take the plea, your drone flying days are over. If the number of convictions on these charges <= 1 then we know the reason why.

AMann · Dec 5, 2024

Sorry, wrong room.

MS Coast · Dec 5, 2024

mavic3usa said:
No wonder very few want to take part in flying a drone; too risky.

What? The FAA says they've issued more than 883,000 TRUST certificates. What fraction of drone owners bother to get the TRUST certificate? Half? That would suggest that nearly two million people in the US alone are flying drones.

Myetkt · Dec 5, 2024

No wonder very few want to take part in flying a drone; too risky. Once you take the plea, your drone flying days are over.

Dear God say it isn’t so..

So ridiculous a statement.

But not as ridiculous as saying “ all someone has to do is call 911 and claim there's a drone spying in their bedroom window and a dozen cop cars will be dispatched and go looking for the pilot hoping to make a violent arrest”.

BaldyBoyBilly · Dec 5, 2024

Referring back to the original concern (s)raised in the OP’s link… I live in what seems to be a hot spot for this drone activity. While it’s easy to see the drones …sometimes 8 nearby our home, impossible for me to speculate on their size. One observation I can share is that if the drones are flying close enough to me that they “appear” the size of our DJI drones, then they are much quieter than ours. Otherwise, if they are actually quite a distance away from me because they aren’t very loud, then these things must be big/huge.

The real concern: all major agencies are now involved in this “investigation”, and the only shared info is “no apparent threat to the public” and “We’re investigating”.

Pretty much every night we see them, which means the fbi et al could easily be prepared with its own equipment to confront/follow/indentify/take close up clear photos and dispel with the rampant rumors.

Either the government knows what is happening and thinks we shouldn’t know the truth, or, we are in deep doodie if, after these 6 weeks they honestly dont have any info.