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Wendell Doyle Goney, 52, of Mount Dora, (Florida) pleaded guilty Thursday in Ocala federal court to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, according to court records. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 18.

Lake County sheriff’s deputies responded to a burglary at a 10-acre industrial property in July 2021 in Mount Dora, northwest of Orlando, according to a plea agreement.

As deputies used a $29,000 drone in the outdoor search, gunfire from a neighboring residential property caused it to crash into a metal roof and catch fire, prosecutors said. Deputies went to the property and found Goney, who said he shot down the drone with a .22-caliber rifle because it had been “harassing” him, investigators said.

A record check showed that Goney had 29 Florida felony convictions, including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, illegal drug possession, burglary, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

— AP in A Florida man who shot down a law enforcement drone faces 10 years in prison

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76 COMMENTS

    • Its easy Johnny, you just go out and buy a non-vetted second hand gun. Heaven forbid we ever pass Universal Background Checks as it would make getting a second hand gun much more difficult. Try buying a second hand gun with no paperwork in Germany or France or Britain sometime, good luck with that.

      • dipshitcian,
        You might want to actually READ about the type of weapons that were used in the attack in Paris…

        I’ll give you a clue, they WEREN’T purchased from Joseph Citizen who had a few extra Uzis just laying around..

    • Never fear, there are plenty of responsible gun owners willing to sell a firearm to anyone, no background check required, the only requirement is cash.

      “Goney had 29 Florida felony convictions, including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, illegal drug possession, burglary, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.“

      This guy sounds like a perfect candidate to join Rahimi is a test case to make sure is it good guys get to keep their guns, right?

      After all, the constitution doesn’t set any limits on the second amendment… So how is they take guns away from convicts serving time in prison, somebody file suit quick!

      No seriously, what article or section of the constitution grants the federal government the right to take your 2ndamendment rights when you’ve been convicted of a crime?

      • Well, according to your logic, anyone with a misdemeanor crime at all, say, a speeding ticket should lose their gun rights if we just put the applicable policy into law. Then, we could ban guns for everyone through a system of death to gun rights by a thousand cuts.

        • A speeding ticket is considered an “infraction” of vehicular law. It’s not a misdemeanor relative to criminal law.

      • Your handlers must be getting the idea by now, miner, that you are a very poor investment.

        You’re actually helping to sell guns. And too fucking stupid to figure it out.

        Fascinating.

      • That’s the ‘well regulated’ part of the 2nd. Way back then the term regulated was not a reference to laws, statutes, etc.. like it is now. It had been in use for years, refering more to being a self controlled and well behaved member of society. Someone Not of ill repute. A person with 29 felonies would be held in low esteem by society as a whole…

      • ShitDiggingIdiot
        “Never fear, there are plenty of responsible gun owners willing to sell a firearm to anyone, no background check required, the only requirement is cash.”

        How would you know?

        Are you a “responsible gun owner?”

        Oh, that’s right, you’re a limey that has had his balls chopped off by the ‘Crown,’ so no gunz for you!

  4. The federal government says I don’t have control over the airspace in my back yard. Anyone could send a drone over to hang out beside my patio, and I’m not allowed to shoot it down.

    • I don’t think that is correct. They have to be at a certain (high) altitude. What you are saying is that a drone can legally video your teenage daughter naked through her upstairs window up close. That’s not the case. Btw, I’m all for shooting down any drones over your property, which may not be legal (see above).

      • You have no control over the air space over your property, not even one inch above the ground. The only recourse you might have is if the drone is looking inside a window or door filming like you stated. The air space is not under your control, but the inside of your home is so long as what is being filmed is not visible from any public space such as a sidewalk or road.

        So, for example, I can see in your front window from the road, I could, in theory, send a drone to film in that window. But I can’t fly around to the back of your house which is not viewable from a public location.

        • The way I understand it, the legal precedent is that you only own the airspace above your property that you can reasonably use. Above that, it’s basically a public right-of-way.

          It’s a federal crime to destroy any aircraft. The FAA considers a drone to be an aircraft.

          I heard one hovering in my back yard before. I went outside and it was gone. I think I’ll take my chances and shoot it down.

        • “You have no control over the air space over your property, not even one inch above the ground.”

          I believe that is incorrect.

        • “You have no control over the air space over your property, not even one inch above the ground.”

          That’s not correct. I posted below…

        • @Dude

          “It’s a federal crime to destroy any aircraft. The FAA considers a drone to be an aircraft.”

          (whatever you do…do NOT mess with the smoke detector in the drone’s lavatory…Federal Time on the Beach for sure).

        • They’re still considered aircraft even if they aren’t registered. So even if a small, unregistered drone was legally trespassing, it would still be a felony to destroy it. Would they bother prosecuting something like that? It depends. Are you anti-regime? They like having the option to stick it to you.

        • “do NOT mess with the smoke detector in the drone’s lavatory”

          Tell me about it! And I thought it was bad when I got caught removing that mattress label. *shivers*

        • “So, for example, I can see in your front window from the road, I could, in theory, send a drone to film in that window.”

          No, you can’t – in theory or otherwise.

          You could do it if the drone does it from the public property, but you can’t enter private property to do it.

          Its the same as doing it with a personally hand held camera – you can do it from public property but you can’t trespass on private property to do it.

        • “You have no control over the air space over your property, not even one inch above the ground.”

          By that logic, the FAA would need to OK a baseball game before it could be played…

    • The rule is that the landowner owns not only as much of the space above the ground as she/he occupies but also as much thereof as she/he may use in connection with the land.

      Thus, a landowner’s property interest in the land extends to the airspace directly over the property, to the extent that the airspace can be used to benefit the underlying land. The fact that she/he does not occupy it in a physical sense, by the erection of buildings and the like, is not material.

      Ownership of Airspace Over Property > https://aviation.uslegal.com/ownership-of-airspace-over-property/

      and although there isn’t an officially set limit of the distance from the ground up to the amount of airspace that is yours, its been generally accepted by courts at 80 feet minimum. But that doesn’t mean, in a general sense, you can use a firearm to shoot down a drone over your property and its very rare that it happens but there have been court cases that ruled it, basically, legal to do so, for example > https://www.cnet.com/culture/judge-rules-man-had-right-to-shoot-down-drone-over-his-house/

      In your own property, if there just so happens to be an very easily had DIY EMP generator there because you are experimenting with its use in repelling ‘aerial intruders’ (maybe ‘mosquitos’ and ‘flys’ 😁) – well, its the drone operators responsibility to be aware of hazards and down at your patio level is way below the generally accepted lower limit of 80 feet.

      So just sayin 😁

  5. At some point in time, hopefully sooner than later, repeat offenders will be executed. It will recognize that some people don’t want to live in this society as good citizens, and it will remove them. Give them a set number of chances, then it is goodbye. We should also hold parents and schools criminally responsible for the children in their care too.

    • At some point in time we need to quit making so many things against the law. When this country was founded there were only nine things that were felonies and now I don’t think anyone even in the government knows how many things are felonies.

      • I like this. Only nine felonies. I confess I can’t name all nine but I will look them up.

    • God’sWord prescribes only a few things that qualify one for the death penalty, and conviction can ONLY come on the tesimony of at least two or three witnesses (specifically defined) who HAVE CLEAN HANDS.. in other words, no paid (cash, favours, rediced sentences, etc) witnesses can testify. Thus to execute anyone for the NUMBER of “crimes” alledged to have been committed is wrong. It is the nature of crimes that is imprtant.
      Shooting a respassing drome out of YOUR airspace does NOT qualify one for the death penalty. Id also unequivocally state that NOT ONE FBI or BATF or DOJ employee has clean hands, thus cannot testify in a calital case.

      • “God’sWord prescribes only a few things that qualify one for the death penalty“

        And one of those is adultery, under Leviticus 20:10.

        Interesting, under God’s Word Donald Trump would’ve already been stoned to death three times.

        • ShitDiggingIdiot

          “God’sWord prescribes only a few things that qualify one for the death penalty.

          “And one of those is adultery, under Leviticus 20:10.”

          So is shoving it up the waste chute of your ‘buddy.’

  6. Makes me think about investing in a directional jamming device to scramble the drones instructions.

    • Its Illegal to jam government drones. From what I’ve found is you have to make your own jammer because no place I’ve looked sales any.

      • Oh, they are for sale, some places in China will sell you one. Good luck getting it past US Customs, though… 😉

  7. there should be no such charge as felon with a gun. whenyou’re done with your sentencing, supervised release, etc, ALL Your rights should be restored. If he’s too dangerous to have a gun, WHY is he out of prison, hmm?

    • It’s possible.

      The custom, heavy lift drones that can lift serious weights (tens of pounds on up) are not cheap. Nor are FLIR cameras, etc….

      • Don’t forget the government contract upcharge.
        A $30k drone to them is probably a $10k drone in the public marketplace.

    • By the list of convictions, he seems to have ‘anger issues’ :

      “A record check showed that Goney had 29 Florida felony convictions, including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, illegal drug possession, burglary,…” 😉

    • There should be an older former field agent for a secret government agency visiting him in an interrogation room. He will be given immunity, a new identity, and a chance to participate in super secret missions….

    • Had they not “had him” on the FIP charges, which are bogus anyway, they’d have tried. But why bother with a slam dunk payback charge?

  11. Anyone using the airspace over your property with a drone to harass you makes the drone subject to disabling by any means necessary. Felon in possession of a firearm should be investigated as we have laws that a supposed to nullify that. I don’t always agree with that law, I think it needs to be applied carefully and not broad spectrum like it is now. There are cases where a felon should be able to use a firearm for self defense if they are not in the process of committing a crime.

    • MB (the real MB),

      “Anyone using the airspace over your property with a drone to harass you makes the drone subject to disabling by any means necessary.”

      If it is legal to down a drone which is harassing you over your property, I imagine it is nevertheless illegal to use a method which harms (or reasonably could harm) your neighbors. Furthermore, I imagine that shooting a rifle bullet into the air (without any guarantee that your bullet will hits its target or that hitting your target will stop your bullet) is in that category and therefore has to be a no-go.

      Having said that, shotgun pellets (of a “small” size, perhaps #2 or smaller shot?) blasted into the air are far less likely to injure any neighbors and would be a far safer choice than shooting a rimfire or centerfire rifle into the air.

      Disclaimer: I am not legal council and the above is NOT legal advice. Consult with legal council in your jurisdiction before shooting anything into the air.

  12. I live in a fairly populous neighborhood. I’ll save my boo-lits & shells for regular criminal scum instead of po-leece drones🙄😀

  14. Drones that the Feds use can spot and identify people using guns or carrying them openly from extremely high altitudes. Anyone shooting or carrying a future banned gun could easily be identified. I would not doubt if present technology could even spot a concealed weapon with the use of a drone.

  16. 13-year-old boy stabbed to death on MTA bus on Staten Island, teen in custody > https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/nypd-13-year-old-boy-stabbed-to-death-on-mta-bus-on-staten-island-teen-in-custody/ar-AA1hOu3g?OCID=ansmsnnews11

    I’ve bought this up before, but its rare that knife attacks are reported in the news so people never hear about them; But, daily across the United States there are ~1,500 (and the numbers are beginning to trend higher now) victims of criminal attacks where the attacker uses a knife. June 2021 – June 2022 it was ~1,400 daily and it increased to ~1,500 and still in that range but its trending higher again again and moving closer to ~1,600, prior to June 2021 it was ~1,300 daily.

    • to note for the above: These two in the linked news story, the attacker and victim, were gang members. In my above, the ~1,600 (and the other numbers) are innocent victims, ordinary citizens, not gang members.

  18. Seems reasonable that criminals would steal a drone then stake out and surveil places to invade. Of course, would need to be smart so fewer chances.

    • some criminas are brilliant, although being lazy. Consider the cases where the perp or kingpin managed to elude LE for decades, sometimes never caught. Some serial murderers offed significant numbers (alright ONE murder victim is signficant…) of victims and never got caught or only after many years. Boston Bomber, the Anthrax guys (who may well have been government operatives, thus well covered), DB Cooper, the guys who escaped Alcatraz…..

  20. In a few places (AZ for one) there are strict laws against firing into the air. Not sure of the penalty but it’s not small.

  21. Shooting down a police drone? I bet that really pissed them off. That’s worse than taking some of those idiotically bright green lasers and shooting them at police helicopters. I’m not talking about 5mw red laser pointer, but some of those green lasers are stupidly bright, I know, I have one. Being a pilot myself, I’d never dream of pointing at aircraft. But shooting down one of their drones does sound like fun.

  22. @I Haz A Question
    “A speeding ticket is considered an “infraction” of vehicular law. It’s not a misdemeanor relative to criminal law.”

    For now.

    Always puzzled the the Liberal legislatures have not yet elevated all misdemeanors and infractions of law to “felonies”. Doing so would create a huge population of gun owners as “prohibited persons”, with concomitant suspensions of rights permanently.

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