An East Brookfield man convicted of illegally flying a helicopter out of his backyard without a license was sentenced in Worcester federal court Friday to 8 months in prison.

Antonio Santonastaso, 63, was sentenced to 8 months in prison and one year of supervised release.

On April 5, a Worcester federal jury found Santonastaso guilty of serving as an airman without an airman certificate, making false statements to federal agents and attempted witness tampering following a three-day trial.

Santonastaso lost his license to pilot an aircraft in 2000 after he helped steal a helicopter from Norwood Memorial Airport. Despite that, he often illegally flew a Robinson R-22 helicopter out of his backyard at his 126 Podunk Road home in East Brookfield.

When the Federal Aviation Administration revoked Santonastaso’s license for his part in the theft, he claimed the story was made up and that he was a member of a “clandestine team of operatives performing ‘black ops’ overseas,” authorities said.

Santonastaso bought a Robinson R-22 helicopter in Texas sometime in February 2018. Later that month, investigators learned he was flying the helicopter from his backyard, an acre-and-a-half plot off Podunk Road, which is surrounded by trees and neighbors.

Read more: Mass. man indicted on illegally flying helicopter from his backyard

He flew the helicopter more than 50 times over the course of six months in 2018, prosecutors said.

In court Friday, there was continued dispute over the width of the path Santonastaso used to taxi-hover the helicopter to a knoll where he would take off and land.

Prosecutors claimed the path was “extremely hazardous.” Court documents said one person had called the police in February of 2018, worried that Santonastaso was flying too close to a neighbor’s backyard and swing set where their grandchildren played. Another neighbor took video of the helicopter and posted it on YouTube.

Several neighbors testified Friday and said they never saw Santonastaso flying over their homes.

After receiving several more complaints, an FAA safety inspector met Santonastaso at his home that April and told Santonastaso his license had been revoked in 2000 and that he could face penalties for flying.

“Santonastaso presented a temporary airman certificate from 1985 and logbook endorsements from prior years, which an instructor had generated, and which purportedly (according to Santonastaso) authorized solo flights,” court records said.

Those endorsements weren’t valid, and the 1985 temporary airman certificate expires after 120 days.

When questioned by both the FAA and federal agents, Santonastaso repeatedly made false statements regarding his eligibility to pilot the helicopter. Santonastaso also falsely claimed to have not learned that the FAA had revoked his license and made false statements regarding his applications for a medical certificate, which is required in order to operate an aircraft.

Read more: Mass. man accused of illegally flying helicopter from East Brookfield backyard stole a helicopter in 2000

Assistant United States Attorney Evan D. Panich asked Judge Timothy S. Hillman for sentencing of 20 months in prison with three years of supervised release.

Panich said Santonastaso flagrantly disregarded the law and thumbed his nose at authorities through his continued flying and lying to criminal investigators.

Attorney Stylianus Sinnis, who represented Santonastaso, along with attorney Caitlin B. Jones and attorney Abigail R. Kittredge, told Hillman Santonastaso’s case was not a jail case.

“The crimes say this person doesn’t need to go to jail,” said Sinnis. “At some point, there are cases that don’t require jail.”

Sinnis said the case has eaten Santonastaso up and that he did not sleep during the trial.

“This is a much more whole man than what he was charged and convicted with,” Sinnis said.

Santonastaso addressed Hillman before his sentencing was read and told the judge he was an experienced pilot who earned his airman’s certificate roughly four decades ago.

The 63-year-old shared his experience of addiction to opiates and his journey to turn his life around, which included the adoption of a daughter with his partner Susan.

“You have a tough job to do, I know that,” Santonastaso told the judge.

Hillman, addressing Santonastaso, said he took no pleasure in his sentencing. One of the reasons Hillman departed from sentencing guidelines, the judge said, was because of all of the wonderful things people who testified said about Santonastaso.

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