Trevor Jacob, a YouTube creator and former Olympic snowboarding athlete, was sentenced to six months in federal prison for “obstructing a federal investigation” by “deliberately destroying the wreckage of an airplane that he intentionally crashed in Santa Barbara County to gain online views,” prosecutors said.
Jacob, 30, of Lompoc, Calif., had pleaded guilty on June 30 to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation. He was sentenced Monday. According to prosecutors, Jacob — an “experienced pilot” and skydiver — had secured a sponsorship from a company that sold various products, including a wallet. Jacob had agreed to promote the company’s wallet in a YouTube video that he would post, authorities said.
On Nov. 24, 2021, Jacob took off in his airplane from Lompoc City Airport on a solo flight purportedly destined for Mammoth Lakes, Calif. “Jacob did not intend to reach his destination, but instead planned to eject from his aircraft during the flight and video himself parachuting to the ground and his airplane as it descended and crashed,” prosecutors said. Prior to taking off, Jacob mounted several video cameras on different parts of the airplane and equipped himself with a parachute, video camera and selfie stick. about 35 minutes after taking off, while flying above the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Maria, Jacob ejected from the airplane and videoed himself parachuting to the ground.
On Dec. 23, 2021, Jacob uploaded a YouTube video titled, “I Crashed My Airplane” — which has 4.4 million views currently — that contained a promotion of the wallet and depicted him parachuting from the plane and the plane’s subsequent crash.
On his YouTube channel, Jacob currently has 143,000 followers. “Hi! My name is Trevor. I love sharing adventures, experiences, and things I’ve learned, with you!” a description of his channel reads. He posted a video on Dec. 4 titled, “I Got My Pilots License Back! But Going To Prison…” which he captioned, “We learn from our mistakes. Thank you for your support.”
“It’s been a wild ride,” Jacob says in the video. “I guess, you know, God throws you certain things and certain situations that force you to grow up, and that’s exactly what this is.”
In the weeks following the plane crash, Jacob “lied to investigators that he did not know the wreckage’s location,” according to prosecutors. But in fact, prosecutors said, on Dec. 10, Jacob and a friend flew by helicopter to the wreckage site where Jacob used straps to secure the wreckage, which the helicopter lifted and carried to Rancho Sisquoc in Santa Barbara County, where it was loaded onto a trailer attached to Jacob’s pickup truck. Jacob drove the wreckage to Lompoc City Airport and unloaded it in a hangar. He then “cut up and destroyed the airplane wreckage and, over the course of a few days, deposited the detached parts of the wrecked airplane into trash bins at the airport and elsewhere, which was done with the intent to obstruct federal authorities from investigating the November 24 plane crash,” prosecutors said.
“It appears that [Jacob] exercised exceptionally poor judgment in committing this offense,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “[Jacob] most likely committed this offense to generate social media and news coverage for himself and to obtain financial gain. Nevertheless, this type of ‘daredevil’ conduct cannot be tolerated.”
According to a sentencing memo from his attorneys, Jacob expressed regret for the “stunt,” which he claimed that he planned while “in a lonely place” in the “wake of the COVID lockdown.” Per his lawyers, Jacob said his “bad choices” came after he had spent his life dedicated to succeeding in extreme sports that he said “provide a personal rush and sense of unique achievement” and often are “lonely endeavors” where the “voice in your head is the only thing that keeps you going.”
