Delco man pleads to flying drone over AFC title game

A year’s probation and a $500 fine has been ordered for a Chadds Ford man who flew a drone over the AFC championship game between the Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 28 in Baltimore.

Matthew Hebert, 44, pleaded guilty on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles D. Austin in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to knowingly or willfully violating U.S. national defense airspace, according to Baltimore news media.

The judge also ordered Hebert to pay a $500 fine. The sentence is what federal prosecutors recommended as part of the plea agreement, news media reported.

Drones are barred from flying within 3 miles of stadiums that seat at least 30,000 people during events including NFL and MLB games, and in the hour before they start and after they end, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Previously reported:

Maryland state troopers followed the unidentified and unapproved drone to a nearby neighborhood where it landed and found Hebert, who admitted to operating the drone, FBI Special Agent David Rodski wrote in an affidavit.

Hebert told troopers and FBI agents that he bought the drone online in 2021 and used an app to operate it, but he didn’t have any training or a license to operate a drone.

Hebert, who was wearing a Ravens jersey was visiting the home of friends in Baltimore for the football game, said he didn’t know about restrictions around the stadium during the game. The app previously had prevented Hebert from operating the drone due to flight restrictions, so while he was surprised that he could operate it, he assumed he was allowed to fly it.

Hebert flew the drone about 330 feet or higher for about two minutes, capturing six photos of himself and the stadium and may have taken a video too, but he didn’t know that his flight had disrupted the game until he was approached by a trooper.