Former Olympian Trevor Jacob Admits He Staged Calif. Plane Crash for YouTube Sponsorship Deal

The felony charge he faces carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison

YouTuber and former Olympian Trevor Jacob pleaded guilty to crashing his airplane in an effort to gain views for a sponsorship deal for a brand of wallets.

The 29-year-old content creator agreed on Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court to a felony charge for obstructing a federal investigation by deliberately destroying the wreckage of an airplane that he intentionally crashed in Santa Barbara County in November 2021, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Central California.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, the U.S. attorney's office said.

In the plea agreement, Jacob said that he had agreed to promote a company's wallet in a YouTube video. "I Crashed My Airplane" was posted to the website weeks after the crash, and is still online. As of Friday, it has garnered over 3 million views.

Related:FAA Says Former Olympian Trevor Jacob Staged Plane Crash for YouTube Video: 'Careless and Reckless'

The experienced pilot and skydiver took off from Lompoc City Airport on Nov. 24, 2021, but the agreement said Jacob "did not intend to reach his destination."

The former competitive snowboarder ejected from his 1940 Taylorcraft plane about 35 minutes after taking off. In the video, the propeller stops and Jacob, wearing skydiving gear, opens the door of the plane and jumps.

Footage shows Jacob landing with few scrapes, while the plane is shown crashing into the mountains. He had mounted several video cameras on different parts of the plane and carried a selfie stick to document the event.

Related:Body of Missing Boat Racer Found 4 Days After He Fell Overboard

Two days later, Jacob alerted the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) about the crash and lied to authorities, telling them he didn't know where the wreckage was, the plea agreement states.

Despite agreeing with the agency to determine the crash location and provide coordinates of the downed plane and videos of the crash, he instead flew with a friend via helicopter to the wreckage site on Dec. 10 and used straps from the helicopter to carry the wreckage to Rancho Sisquoc in Santa Barbara County. Once there, he loaded the wreckage onto a trailer and pulled the pieces of the downed plane to Lompoc City Airport, where he unloaded it in a hangar, the plea agreement states.

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Jacob then destroyed the airplane further and deposited pieces of it in trash bins at the airport and elsewhere, according to the plea agreement. He admitted to authorities in the plea that he deliberately acted to obstruct the crash investigation.

The YouTuber also lied to an FAA safety investigator about the plane's engine quitting, and that he was unable to find a place to safely land the plane, the agreement states.

In April 2022, the FAA revoked his pilot license.

Jacob is expected to make a court appearance in the coming weeks, the U.S. attorney's office said.

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