(PENSACOLA, Fla.) Aug. 19 - An Indiana investor and pilot accused of crashing his plane in Milton, Fla. to fake his death was handed his sentenced Wednesday.
Marcus Schrenker will spend 51 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay restitution to the U.S. Coast Guard for their search and rescue efforts.
Just last year, Schrenker drove luxury cars and lived in a huge house in Indiana. All the while, he had a beautiful wife and three children by his side. Schrenker, it appeared, was on top of world. By day he was an investor, but his true passion was flying. On January 11, he flipped that world upside down.
During a solo night flight, Schrenker set his plane on autopilot and ditched it mid-air. The plane ran out of fuel and crashed 130 yards away from a Milton neighborhood. The man who once seemed to have it all was trying to fake his own death.
"There's no question he had some problems," Schrenker's attorney Tom Keith said. "He was stressed out and that affected his judgement."
As it turned out, Schrenker's perfect life was an illusion. Just before he crashed his plane, his wife, Michelle, filed for divorce and investigators searched his home for evidence against him in a securities fraud case.
Today, he faced a federal judge for destroying his plane and triggering a false emergency. He's sentenced to 51 months in federal prison, 3 months probation and he is ordered to pay more than $900,000 in restitution.
Just before the judge handed down that sentence, Schrenker sobbed openly in court and said, "I don't know why I did this. I can't believe I did this. I will never forgive myself."
In the proceedings, Schrenker claimed he is bipolar, but a prison doctor diagnosed him as a narcissist. Schrenker's family was in court, including his estranged wife, Michelle. They did not comment about the sentence.
