NEW YORK (AP) - The lawyer for a man arrested Monday on a federal charge that he knowingly directed a laser at aircraft says his client came to him last week saying his conscience was bothering him because someone else had been arrested for something he did.
Attorney Manuel A. Sanchez Jr. said outside court that Elehecer Balaguer told him he wanted "to go to court and confess to the crime."
Balaguer, 54, surrendered Monday morning and was released on $50,000 bail later in the day after an initial appearance before a magistrate judge in Manhattan on a charge that carries a potential prison sentence of five years.
On Friday, Balaguer told a Bronx judge in state court that the government had the wrong man when it arrested Frank Egan on charges of assault, weapon possession and directing a laser at an aircraft.
Balaguer was charged alone in federal court after pilots of three passenger planes and a police helicopter told authorities they suffered eye injuries when a green light beam was pointed at them as they flew near LaGuardia Airport on the evening of March 9. Some of the pilots were treated at hospitals.