Summary

On December 16, 2013, Steven Allan Cate was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Greenville, Tennessee, for piloting an aircraft without an airman's certificate. This sentencing stems from a June 5, 2013, guilty plea in which Cate admitted to flying a plane without a valid airman certificate. Cate was sentenced to serve six months in prison and twelve months of supervised release. 

On April 1, 2013, air traffic controllers identified an unregistered aircraft that was being flown from Daytona Beach, Florida, to Morristown, Tennessee. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contacted the Morristown Police Department (PD) and requested officers meet the aircraft. Morristown PD identified Cate as the pilot. The FAA reported that Cate did not possess a valid pilot's certificate. This is the second time Cate has engaged in such conduct, having been convicted of an identical offense in December 2004.

This investigation was conducted with assistance from the FAA.