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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 18, 1992                   TAG: 9201180103
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

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MYSTERY FLIGHT PILOT SENTENCED FOR FRAUD

Thomas Root, who gained notoriety after his small plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 1989, was sentenced Friday to 33 months in prison for falsifying applications before the Federal Communications Commission.

The former communications lawyer had pleaded guilty to counterfeiting, forgery and fraud charges in connection with license applications by FM radio stations.

Root gained national attention in July 1989 when military planes were sent up to follow his Cessna 210 as it flew from Washington down the East Coast before plunging into the Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas. When he was pulled from the ocean, he was found to have suffered a gunshot wound. - Associated Press

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