A 41-year-old Laguna Niguel man was sentenced Monday to nine years in federal prison for shooting at an Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter during a standoff with law enforcement that broke out during his birthday party.
Justin Derek Jennings pleaded guilty in August to a count of attempting to damage an aircraft.
“I would like to apologize to the court, to the public and to my family,” Jennings told U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb during the sentencing hearing.
“Not a day goes by that I am not remorseful,” Jennings said.
He noted he has an uncle who served in law enforcement.
“I have the utmost respect for law enforcement,” Jennings said.
He said alcoholism contributed to his behavior.
“I have a serious alcohol abuse problem,” Jennings said. “I let it completely upend my life. … I know now two years sober that it’s not who I am, not who I want to be.”
His attorney, Jason Hannan of the Federal Public Defender’s Office, noted that the defendant’s father, mother and two sisters attended Monday’s court hearing to support Jennings.
“It’s very ironic his father, Steven Jennings, is a doctor who focuses on substance abuse counseling,” Hannan said.
Jennings downed about two quarts of Jack Daniels at his birthday party, Hannan said, calling his subsequent outburst “out of character.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin Jean Campbell argued for a 10-year sentence. She pointed out that Jennings grew up with “benefits and privileges.”
Holcomb rejected Hannan’s advocacy for a seven-year sentence.
“Ten years seems to me unjustly harsh,” Holcomb said. “Seven years doesn’t seem harsh enough.”
Sheriff’s deputies were called to the 31000 block of Golden Lantern about 9 p.m. March 9, 2014, where a man fired a rifle in a home during a family dispute, sheriff’s deputies said.
At some point, Jennings fired a semi-automatic assault rifle from the second story of his residence, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Jennings said he intended to “pull (his) (expletive) sniper rifle out and shoot (the helicopter) down” Prosecutors added that Jennings wanted to see if he “could take a helicopter down.”