Man agrees to pay $5,000 federal fine for flying a drone near the Marathon finish line

The US Attorney's office last week charged a man with violating national defense airspace for allegedly sending up a drone near the Boston Marathon finish line on April 15 - but also filed an agreement to drop the charge after a year in exchange for a $5,000 fine - and for the government to keep the drone.

Allan Nip, 30, had face a potential sentence of up to a year in federal prison if convicted on the misdemeanor charge. The agreement must still be approved by a magistrate judge in US District Court in Boston.

The Marathon is now considered a national-defense event, in which the Defense Department sends in experts in everything from explosives to radiation to help guard the route, and for which private drones are banned along the route.

According to an "information" filed in US District Court last week, Nip allegedly:

[D]id knowingly and willfully, and without lawful authority, operate an unmanned aircraft system, to wit a DJI Mavic 3 with Serial Number 1581F45T7227B00SU049, within restricted National Defense Airspace, to wit within an area subject to a Temporary Flight Restriction prohibiting unmanned aircraft system operations near the finish line of the 128th Boston Marathon as set forth in Notice To Air Missions 4/8918.

According to the agreement Nip signed, the FBI seized the drone on Marathon Day. The agreement calls on him to surrender the drone's controller to the FBI.