American FedEx pilot sentenced to 4 weeks in Singapore jail for breaking hotel quarantine
FOX NEWS - A FedEx pilot from Alaska was sentenced to four weeks in jail in Singapore Wednesday for leaving his hotel room to get medical supplies during a required coronavirus quarantine.
Brian Yeargan, 44, became the first foreigner to be jailed for breaking self-isolation restrictions in the Southeast Asian city-state after pleading guilty earlier this month.
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Yeargan flew to Singapore from Australia with two co-pilots and was required to not go out into the city for two weeks because he had been to China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and the United States within two weeks of his arrival.
He admitted to “poor judgment” in leaving for three hours to buy masks and a thermometer, his defense lawyer said.
Health officials who checked on Yeargan in his room, found him missing after he took the metro downtown to buy the supplies before his flight the next day, he told the court. His co-pilots left as scheduled.
He said he wanted to buy the items in Singapore because his wife had been feeling sick and supplies are in short supply in Alaska.
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More than 90 percent of Singapore’s approximately 26,000 cases are foreign workers living in crowded dormitories.
“In his address in court, Yeargan said he was sorry, he made a poor judgment and that he shouldn’t have gone out,” his lawyer said. Yeargan said he has “the highest regard for the Singapore people and its laws."
He could get out in three weeks for good behavior.
His parents told the Anchorage Daily News he last spoke to them on Mother’s Day while in quarantine.
“He’s always sounded pretty good,” his father, Jim Yeargan told the newspaper. He said his son is a former U.S. Army Ranger. “That tends to make you tough. He’s taking care of himself.”
Yeargan began serving his sentence this week, according to the Daily News.
Quarantine violators can face six months in jail and a $7,000 fine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.