Man who flew gyrocopter onto Capitol lawn could face 10 years in prison

The Florida man who landed his gyrocopter onto the west front lawn of the Capitol building April 15 was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday on two felony charges: operating as an airman without an airman's certificate and violating registration requirements involving aircraft.

Doug Hughes, 61, was also charged with three counts of violation of national defense airspace and one of operating a vehicle falsely labeled as a postal carrier, all misdemeanors. If convicted on all counts, Hughes could be sentenced to almost 10 years in prison plus fines, CBS News reports. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Washington, D.C., federal court on Thursday.

Hughes says he flew from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, onto the Capitol lawn to bring attention to campaign finance reform. He was a U.S. postal carrier, but was not authorized to put the U.S. Postal Service emblem on the gyrocopter.

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