Stephen Sharp was pushing for probation. The former US Airways Express pilot was nailed by the feds for selling "selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet that he claimed was '100 percent' effective in helping drug-using truck drivers, pilots and train engineers pass federally mandated drug tests."

Yes, it was a genius move for a man in a highly regulated profession ... which is why the judge gave him nine months behind bars for failing to grasp "the magnitude of the potential harm" of his actions." Sharp lost his job after the feds raided his lab. So, it's hardly surprising that the judge cut off Sharp's lament with the question: "If you think those years were hard, how do you think you would have felt if a pilot was able to disguise his intoxication with your product and crashed a plane killing 250 people?" Cercone asked.

[photo by amandabhslater via flickr]

Filed under: North America, United States, Airlines