Probation for laser incident

A New Jersey man was sentenced last month to two years’ probation after pleading guilty to shining a handheld laser, first into the cockpit of a Citation landing at Teterboro Airport and again later at a helicopter that was searching for the source of the first incident. Under the Patriot Act, 39-year-old David Banach could have received a 20-year jail term. Prosecutors did not oppose the lenient sentence because they did not believe Banach was involved in terrorism.