Frederick Man Charged With Violating National Defense Airspace
Baltimore, Maryland /Friday, February 20, 2026 – A 66-year-old Maryland man made his initial appearance in federal court today, in connection with flying an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in restricted airspace.
Stuart Bennett, of Frederick, Maryland, is charged with violating national defense airspace.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the criminal complaint with Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Baltimore Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Hanna Porterfield, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) – Washington, D.C. Field Office.
On September 8, 2025, a military official reported that a YouTube channel, titled “Area 82 Surveillance911,” posted drone footage of an identified sensitive U.S. national defense facility.
In response, the NCIS conducted a preliminary review of the YouTube channel. Through the investigation, authorities identified videos depicting several identified national defense facilities, including Raven Rock Mountain Complex (RRMC), that appeared to have been taken from an UAS.
A joint FBI and NCIS investigation of the YouTube channel revealed videos that appeared to depict DOD facilities and critical infrastructure to national security. Additionally, the YouTube channel displayed video titles that claimed to identify locations as “classified” or “Top Secret.” This included a folder titled, “Classified Secret Sites” that contained approximately seven videos taken by an UAS flying over U.S. Government facilities.
The FBI investigated the Internet Protocol address overlap of email accounts, a recovery phone number, and email addresses registered with the United States Postal Service. As a result of its findings, the FBI focused on Bennett as the owner of the YouTube channel.
Then the FBI executed a search warrant for Bennett’s residence where they seized a Potensic Atom drone, four micro-SD cards, and a Hewlett-Packard Z240 Tower Workstation. Agents also took Bennett’s computer monitor, which displayed the Area82 Surveillance911 YouTube channel logged in. A review of one of the micro-SD cards seized from Bennett’s residence revealed a video depicting a UAS flight over RRMC.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI and NCIS for their work in the investigation, and the Department of War's Pentagon Force Protection Agency for its valuable assistance.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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Contact
Kevin Nash
USAMD.Press@usdoj.gov
410-209-4946
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland
