(credit: demonsparkx)

A Fresno-area man who initially made a baffling attempt to explain to law enforcement how his laser pointer repeatedly hit a California Highway Patrol aircraft multiple times—“It just shot upward from my pocket and hit the plane”—has now been sentenced to six months in prison. He pleaded guilty to endangering an aircraft with his laser earlier this year.

“I keep thinking this offense was committed by a 12-year-old. But it was not,” US District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill told defendant Jeremy Scott Danielson during the Monday sentencing hearing, according to a statement sent to Ars. “You could have brought the CHP plane down by blinding the pilot. You jeopardized their eyes and their safety.”

Despite the judge’s claim, a plane has never been brought down due to a laser strike. However, for more than a decade, federal authorities have been concerned that terrorists or other ne’er-do-wells might try to. Under the Obama administration, federal penalties for laser strikes have been strengthened.