Two WTC BASE Jumpers Get Community Service
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two thrill seekers who BASE jumped from One World Trade Center have been sentenced to community service and must each pay a $2,000 fine.
James Brady, Andrew Rossig and Marko Markovich squeezed through a hole in the fence and parachuted off the tower in the dead of night in September 2013.
A video of the jump was posted on YouTube, and surveillance video captured the jumpers landing in front of the Goldman Sachs building.
The three were acquitted of felony burglary, convicted only of misdemeanors, which Judge Juan Merchan said don't fully address what they did.
Two WTC BASE Jumpers Get Community Service
Merchan said the act wasn't heroic, adding, "It may have taken courage, but it didn't save anyone, make the world a better place or protect our country."
The judge called the stunt selfish, reckless and insensitive. He said the three tarnished the building before it opened and sullied the memories of those who jumped from the building, not for sport, but because they had to during the Sept. 11 terror attacks, WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported.
Two WTC BASE Jumpers Get Community Service
"With respect to the judge, I certainly disagree with that," Rossig's attorney Tim Parlatore said, adding that a few of the families of victims of 9/11 wrote letters of support.
The prosecutor asked for jail time, holding up a copy of Maxim magazine for which the three proudly posed in their jumping gear after the stunt, Silverman reported.
Rossig was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. Brady, the steelworker who got the trio through a hole in the fence, was sentenced to 50 extra hours.
Rossing and Brady both apologized for the stunt.
"We won't be parachuting in New York City anymore," Rossig said.
Kyle Hartwell, who acted as a lookout for the three BASE jumpers, was sentenced to 100 hours of community service last month.
Markovich will be sentenced on Aug. 17.
