Drone operator who flew near California football game charged with criminal flight violations

SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) — A man accused of violating Federal Aviation Administration restrictions last November by flying a drone near a football game appeared in court for the first time Friday.

Junwei Guo, 27, stood in sweatpants before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Van Keulen in federal court. He said through a Mandarin translator that he understood the charges against him.

Guo is charged with violating national defense airspace — a Class A misdemeanor that comes with a maximum penalty of up to one year in prison, one year of supervised release and a $100,000 fine.

“I am not asking you to admit to anything, I just want to make sure you understand,” Van Keulen said before reading the charges.

In a criminal complaint, the feds accuse Guo of operating a DJI Mavic 3 Pro drone without a UAS (unmanned aircraft system) remote pilot certificate. They say the incident happened within airspace surrounding Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, during a Nov. 9, 2025, National Football League game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams.

For the game, the FAA had issued a temporary flight restriction that prohibited all aircraft including drones from flying within a 3-nautical mile radius.

Guo flew the drone at approximately 2,300 feet, “an altitude that raises significant concerns for public safety and the potential disruption of air traffic control in the area,” the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of California asserted in a Feb. 2 press statement. They say the drone came within 2.7 miles of the stadium.

At Guo’s appearance on Friday, U.S. Assistant Attorney Christina Liu said Guo initially told FBI agents he was flying at 1,500 to 2,000 feet. When questioned again and told restrictions were in place for flying anything above 400 feet, he reportedly changed his response to 500 to 600 feet.

“There is a strong case against him that he violated this offense,” Liu said.

Liu said supervision should be a condition for pretrial release due to the government’s concerns about Guo’s nonappearance at his court dates. She said the government had seized the drone and did not think he was a threat to public safety.

Guo’s public defender, Varell Fuller, countered that supervision was not necessary because it was Guo’s first criminal charge and he was cooperating with government officials.

“He has been trying to get this case resolved,” Fuller said.

Additionally, Fuller said Guo was unaware of the restrictions. He asserted Guo had operated the drone at 4:17 p.m., just before flight restrictions were lifted at 4:30 p.m.

Van Keulen determined Guo’s release could be unsupervised until his next court date on March 13.

Drone activity near sporting events is common — and rarely prosecuted. However, the FBI and other government agencies are increasingly enforcing restrictions. The FBI has created “no-drone zones” and currently bans all drone activity with a 3-nautical mile radius of all venues with seating capacity of more than 30,000 people.

Such bans are in effect for the entire duration of events, as well as one hour before and after. The upcoming World Cup, which will be held at 11 U.S. stadiums in July, is of particular interest to the agency as it enforces security bans on unauthorized drone activity.