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L.A. visitor pleads guilty to pointing laser at helicopters

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A man awaits sentencing after pleading guilty this week to pointing a green laser at two helicopters in Los Angeles, officials said.

The man, Isaias Gonzalez, is the second to be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Central District of California office under new a federal law that President Obama approved in 2012, which made it a federal crime to deliberately point a laser at aircraft, according to an FBI news release.

In March, a North Hollywood teenager was sentenced to serve 30 months in federal prison after he shined a green laser beam at a private jet and a Pasadena Police Department helicopter.

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Gonzalez, a 25-year-old from Denver, was on vacation last fall when he pointed his laser at a KTLA news helicopter that was flying in the Hollywood Hills area. When the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to reports of the laser, Gonzalez shined his beam at the department’s helicopter too, said FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller.

Gonzalez admitted in court that he aimed his laser intentionally at each on Sept. 6, 2012, according to the release. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December and could receive a $250,000 fine and up to five years in federal prison.

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Twitter: @emfoxhall

emily.foxhall@latimes.com

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