Missouri man sentenced for shooting at crop dusting plane

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A southwest Missouri man faces more than six years in prison for shooting at a small aircraft he claimed was interfering with his sleep.

The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri said in a release 39-year-old David Leroy Dickenson of Miller was sentenced Tuesday to 6 1/2 years in prison without parole. Dickenson also has to pay the aircraft owner about $17,500.

Dickenson pleaded guilty last year to destruction of an aircraft.

Court documents show in December 2014 Dickenson was angry a low-flying plane spraying herbicide was interrupting his day time sleep. He went outside with a shotgun and shot at the plane.

The pilot wasn’t injured, and safely landed the plane, which had several buckshot holes in it.