Updated: 11/05/2009 3:44 PM KSTP.com | Print |  Email

Canadian Man Sentenced for Flying Stolen Plane

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A 31-year-old Canadian man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for stealing a plane in Canada and flying over three states before landing along a dark southern Missouri highway.

Adam Dylan Leon had admitted in August to all federal charges he'd faced: interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft, importation of a stolen aircraft and illegal entry.

A federal judge in St. Louis said Leon's actions posed risks to himself and others, cost the government $230,000 to keep fighter jets in the air for seven hours tracking him, and caused the Wisconsin capitol to evacuate.

Leon admitted he stole a four-seat Cessna 172 from his Thunder Bay, Ontario, flight school last April and crossed the U.S. border. Leon landed the plane more than seven hours later on a road off of Highway 60 near Ellsinore, Mo.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)