Teen Gets Prison Sentence in Cessna Citation Laser Incident

Stephen Pope

Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at 07:35 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

A California teenager received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for shining a laser at two aircraft, part of a federal crackdown on such incidents.
He is the second person sentenced under a federal law enacted in February 2012, which criminalizes aiming lasers at aircraft.
The commercial-grade laser caused significant danger, resulting in "vision impairment that lasted for hours" for one of the pilots.

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A California teenager convicted of shining his laser pointer at two aircraft in flight has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison as part of a federal crackdown on such incidents.

Adam Gardenhire, 19, aimed his commercial-grade green laser in March 2012 at a Cessna Citation on approach to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and then at a Pasadena police helicopter dispatched to find the source.