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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A 39-year-old man is expected to be arraigned in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks on a federal charge for allegedly flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base and photographing the military complex, officials announced Wednesday.
Yinpiao Zhou, 39, of Contra Costa County is charged with failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Zhou was arrested Monday at San Francisco International Airport prior to boarding a China-bound flight and made his initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. No plea was taken and his arraignment is expected to be scheduled in Los Angeles federal court in the coming weeks.
According to an affidavit, drone detection systems at Vandenberg in Santa Barbara County detected a drone Nov. 30 flying over the base. The systems detected that the drone flew for nearly an hour, traveled to an altitude of almost one mile above ground level, and originated from Ocean Park, a public area next to the base, the affidavit states.
Base security personnel went to the park, spoke to Zhou and another person accompanying him, and learned that Zhou had a drone concealed in his jacket -- the same one that flew over the base, officials said.
Federal prosecutors say agents later searched Zhou's drone pursuant to a search warrant and saw several photographs of Vandenberg taken from an aerial viewpoint. A search of Zhou's phone showed that Zhou allegedly conducted a search for the phrase "Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules" and messaged with another person about hacking his drone to allow it to fly higher than it could otherwise, court papers show.
Zhou is a Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States, most recently returning to the U.S. from China in February. The person accompanying Zhou at Ocean Park most recently entered the United States from China last month, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
If convicted, Zhou would face a possible sentence of up to four years in federal prison, prosecutors said.