May Have To Complete Anger Management Training If Probation Officer Deems It Necessary

A federal court in Alabama has determined that Jason Allen McCay does not need to spend time in jail for shooting at a restored 1943 Stearman biplane that was flying over his house last June. McCay pleaded guilty to firing at the airplane owned and restored by Fred Campbell, an 81-year-old neighbor who built and operates a private airstrip across the street from McCay's house in Hayden, AL.

Television station WBRC reports that the judge in the case agreed with McCay's attorney that prison time was not appropriate for the crime, but also did not particularly like the 36-year-old defendant's apology. The judge said it sounded like a politician's apology for the public not understanding the circumstances of an event, not the actual event its self.

McCay's stepmother said that the media had blown the incident out of proportion, and that both sides were not being told.

Campbell and Joe Dailey were in the Stearman when McCay fired on it while it was on final for the nearby airfield. Neither was injured, or even aware that they were being shot at. But Dailey said it could have been a much different situation.

Along with probation, McCay will have a felony conviction on his record, which will prevent him from owning firearms and ammunition in the future. The judge also said if his probation officer deemed it to be necessary, McCay would have to undergo therapy for anger management.

McCay could have been sentenced to 20 years in prison and paid a fine of $250,000 for firing at the plane.

(Stearman shown in file photo. Not incident airplane)

FMI: www.justice.gov/usao/aln/index.html