…While Convicted Felon Wants Money Back

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Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania pilot who used his aircraft to cause a series of potential disasters claims the punishment meted out is too harsh. John Salamone was jailed for up to 23 months (he’s appealing) and also forfeited his Piper Cherokee for an allegedly drunken spree over Pennsylvania and New Jersey a year ago that forced evasive action by six airliners and some close encounters for a police helicopter. Now Salamone wants the $34,000 selling price of the plane that a judge ordered him to forfeit to the Montgomery County district attorney’s office. Salamone’s lawyer, Joseph P. Green Jr., claims the forfeiture amounts to double jeopardy because Salamone had already been sentenced to prison for reckless endangerment and risking a catastrophe. During the trial, prosecutors said the airplane was contraband used in the commission of a crime and therefore subject to forfeiture. No word on when either appeal will be heard.

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