SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A 37-year-old San Diego man pleaded guilty Monday to illegally landing a small airplane on a United States Navy airstrip on San Clemente Island twice, stealing a Navy truck and using it to damage gates on the island.
Andrew Kyle White, who has been in federal custody after he violated the terms of his bond by cutting off his ankle bracelet earlier this year, pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft of government property in excess of $1,000 and one misdemeanor count of illegal entry into a naval installation, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a news release.
White’s intrusion onto the base cost nearly 500 man-hours and resulted in a $500,000 loss to the American taxpayer, according to Navy officials.
White’s plea agreement states that he knew it was illegal to travel to or access San Clemente Island, which is owned and operated by the U.S. Navy and is part of Naval Base Coronado, without first obtaining permission from the Navy or a government official with authority to grant such access.
On Oct. 29, 2023, White flew a Glastar airplane to San Clemente Island and landed the plane on a U.S. Navy airstrip without the Navy’s permission, according to prosecutors. White received a letter from the Navy that it was a federal crime to travel to San Clemente Island without the military branch’s permission and instructed him not to return to the island.
Then on April 6, 2025, White again flew the Glastar airplane to San Clemente Island and landed it on a naval airstrip without permission, the DOJ said. White also stole a white Ford F-150 truck that was U.S. Navy property worth around $16,000.
White used the stolen truck to drive to various locations on San Clemente Island that were blocked by locked gates, using the truck to damage the gates and causing around $8,077 in damages and costs to tow the truck, according to prosecutors.
“Whatever [White’s] intentions were, the military did not know them; they responded as one might expect the military to respond to an unknown threat: they assumed the worst,” prosecutors said in court documents. “The island went on a complete lockdown. Personnel engaged in a highly dangerous mission to locate the unknown intruder(s) notwithstanding the dangers they were exposing themselves too, from the weather, the terrain, and the potential unexploded ordnances that could have been underfoot in that area.”
White, who faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for theft of government property and up to six months in federal prison for illegally entering a naval installation, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 29.
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