By Sean Emery
The Orange County Register
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — A 41-year-old Laguna Niguel man who used a semi-automatic rifle to repeatedly fire at an Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter after getting drunk at his birthday party was sentenced Monday, June 8 to nine years in federal prison.
Justin Derek Jennings also was ordered to spend three years on probation following his release from prison, after accepting a plea deal last year in which he admitted to one federal count of attempting to damage, destroy, disable or wreck an aircraft.
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In sentencing an apologetic Jennings to nine years behind bars, U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb effectively split the difference between the roughly 10-year sentence sought by federal prosecutors and the seven-year sentence the defense was requesting.
During a party on March 9, 2024, an inebriated Jennings became angry and family members began to leave, according to prosecutors, at which point Jennings retrieved a rifle from his gun safe and fired an entire magazine of ammunition inside the home.
Remaining family members fled and called 911, drawing deputies to the neighborhood. Jennings fired at a sheriff’s helicopter overhead from a second-story window.
The gunfire lasted intermittently for at least 20 minutes until Jennings was taken into custody. Deputies found two revolvers, two handguns, two rifles, multiple rounds of ammunition and bullet casings scattered across the floor of the home, as well as two magazines and a box of ammunition on a couch beneath the window Jennings had been firing from, according to court filings.
Jennings’ attorney, Deputy Federal Public Defender Jason Hannan, wrote in a sentencing brief that Jennings addiction to alcohol was at the heart of the incident that led to his arrest.
He had begun drinking early the day of his 39th birthday party, the defense attorney wrote. He ultimately finished off a handle of Jack Daniels containing 1.75 liters of hard liquor prior to the confrontation with law enforcement.
“Mr. Jennings himself is now cognizant of how dangerous his alcohol addiction is and intends to never use alcohol again,” his attorney wrote. “He is also remorseful for his conduct and has accepted responsibility.”
Judge Holcomb acknowledged that Jennings was inebriated at the time, but said it was still “an extraordinarily serious crime…
“If your aim had been better, you could have hurt or killed the individuals in that helicopter,” the judge said.
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