and in particular, it appears this guy was actively talking about how to deceive the FAA and avoid attention, so yeah... fuck him, this isn't a random fall guy, this is a chief test pilot who was in on the plan.
again, by all means, this should not be the only prosecution here, and if they can flip him on the rest of his conspirators then he should get a reduced sentence, that's the standard RICO playbook. But prosecution is the lever you use to flip the ones you catch on the rest of their conspirators, and this guy very clearly was a willful participant in this criminal enterprise.
(obviously the jury gets to decide that, but this isn't a courtroom, and barring some gross miscarriage of justice, the quotes they're presenting sound pretty damning)
again, by all means, this should not be the only prosecution here, and if they can flip him on the rest of his conspirators then he should get a reduced sentence, that's the standard RICO playbook. But prosecution is the lever you use to flip the ones you catch on the rest of their conspirators, and this guy very clearly was a willful participant in this criminal enterprise.
(obviously the jury gets to decide that, but this isn't a courtroom, and barring some gross miscarriage of justice, the quotes they're presenting sound pretty damning)