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United States Attorney Eric Melgren
District of Kansas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News releases are available at www.usdoj.gov/usao/ks/
Contact: Jim Cross
Phone: (316) 269-6481
Fax: (316) 269-6420
Aug. 11, 2006
CLAY CENTER MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SHOOTING PILOT
TOPEKA, Kan. – A Clay Center man pleaded guilty Friday to shooting the pilot of a plane that was assisting police in the search for him.
Michael J. Michaud, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of endangering the safety of an aircraft by an act of violence and one count of discharging a firearm in a crime of violence. He appeared before U.S. District Judge Richard D. Rogers in federal court in Topeka.
“We are recommending a 20-year sentence for Mr. Michaud,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren. Judge Rogers has scheduled sentencing for Nov. 10, 2006.
In his plea, Michaud admitted that he fired a shot that struck the pilot of the search plane in the head. The incident began April 29, 2005, when Sheriff Chuck Dunn of the Clay County Sheriff’s Department attempted to stop Michaud’s vehicle. When Michaud refused to stop, the sheriff pursued him and requested backup, including air support. Michael Spicer, a local pilot and member of the Clay County Commission who runs the Clay Center Airport, answered the call, with local fire chief Arnold Knoettgen flying along as a spotter.
Knoettgen and Spicer located Michaud’s vehicle, which Michaud had abandoned. As they flew over, Michaud rose up from the field where he was hiding and shot at the plane, striking Spicer in the head. Spicer managed to land the plan safely even though he was injured. Michaud was arrested the next day after officers responded to a call from a citizen who said Michaud was hiding on his property. Investigators found the gun Michaud used to shoot the pilot, a .44 caliber Smith And Wesson handgun, hidden in an outbuilding near where Michaud was arrested.
The maximum penalty for endangering an aircraft is 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The penalty for discharging a firearm in a crime of violence is not less than 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
Melgren commended the Clay County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which investigated the case, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Coody, who prosecuted.