A Mount Dora man who has been convicted of dozens of felonies over the past several decades will spend four more years behind bars for shooting down a police drone that was being used to investigate a burglary.
Wendell Doyle Goney, 52, was sentenced to four years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
According to the plea agreement, on July 11, 2021, deputies from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to a burglary at a 10-acre business in Mount Dora.
While law enforcement agents were using a drone to assist with the outdoor search, the aerial vehicle was destroyed by gunfire from a neighboring property.
Deputies responded to the neighboring property and found Goney, who admitted that he had shot down the drone using a .22 caliber rifle.
Goney, who pled guilty in October, claimed the drone had been “harassing him.” He also admitted that he could not lawfully possess a firearm because he was a convicted felon, according to the plea agreement.
Goney has been convicted of 29 felonies including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, illegal drug possession, burglary, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.