Pilot Jailed in SIN for Covid-19 Quarantine Violation

[Airbubba]

A cargo pilot is in the slammer in Singapore.

From the Anchorage Daily News:

FedEx pilot from Alaska jailed in Singapore for breaking COVID-19 order

Author: Zaz Hollander (https://www.adn.com/author/zaz-hollander/)
Updated: 2 hours ago
Published 14 hours ago

A FedEx pilot from Eagle River is serving a four-week sentence in a Singapore jail for breaching a COVID-19 order to spend two weeks in his hotel room upon arrival.

The case of the American pilot jailed for violating foreign coronavirus protocols generated a brief sensation in Southeast Asian news outlets when the case broke. [the picture below was included in this ADN article - Airbubba]

Brian Yeargan, 44, arrived in Singapore from Australia in early April, according to immigration authorities (https://www.ica.gov.sg/news-and-publications/media-releases/media-release/two-singapore-citizens-and-one-foreigner-to-be-charged-after-breaching-their-stay-home-notices-(shn)). He went to jail this week, family members in Alaska said.

The last time Yeargan’s parents, Jim and Pam, talked with their son was Mother’s Day. They’d chatted a few times before that while he was holed up in his room.

“He’s always sounded pretty good,” Jim Yeargan said Thursday, adding that his son is a former U.S. Army Ranger. “That tends to make you tough. He’s taking care of himself.”

But, Jim Yeargan continued, his son was also concerned about his family back home — he lives in Eagle River with his wife and two sons — and had already spent a month alone. He never experienced any COVID-19 symptoms.

The case began just after the Alaska pilot landed April 3 in the prosperous city-state between Malaysia and Sumatra — the very day Singapore announced strict “circuit breaker” measures to curb rising COVID-19 infections. More than 7,000 breaches were reported that day alone. Cases surged (https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/20/838324209/singapore-sees-surge-in-covid-19-cases-now-has-highest-number-in-southeast-asia)about two weeks later, and then declined.

Singapore was reporting (https://www.gov.sg/features/covid-19)just over 1,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and 21 deaths as of this week. Another 19,000 were deemed clinically well but staying in isolation facilities because they still tested positive for the virus.

Brian Yeargan was in Singapore on a short-term visit pass and was issued a stay-home notice that meant he couldn’t leave his room until April 17, authorities say. It wasn’t clear how long he was expecting to stay. FexEx declined to discuss his itinerary.

“Ignoring the stay order, he left his room at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel around 11.15 am on April 5,” Singapore-based newspaper The Straits Times (https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/us-pilot-jailed-for-breaching-stay-order) reported. Authorities checked the hotel 15 minutes later and found him gone.

Yeargan pleaded guilty in late April to one count of breaching the order, according to multiple media reports. At a hearing (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-brian-dugan-yeargan-pilot-guilty-plea-stay-home-notice-12686994), however, Yeargan told a judge he didn’t get a physical copy of the stay-home notice.

During court proceedings, a prosecutor told the judge Yeargan walked to the airport station, took a train to the busy City Hall station, and walked about 30 minutes to a shopping mall, media reports said.

Yeargan recalled there were about 1,000 people at the station and 10 to 20 people at each shop he visited, according to an account in Channel News Asia (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/american-pilot-jailed-for-breaching-stay-home-notice-to-buy-12727486). He bought a thermometer and a few boxes of face masks at four stores; at that point, it was difficult finding such supplies in Alaska.

His lawyer said he wore a mask on the trip.

As he walked to another train station, someone from FedEx called and told Yeargan to go back to his room, reporters covering the proceedings wrote. He got a taxi right away.

The whole trip took about three hours.

Prosecutors requested a six- or eight-week sentence, saying Yeargan could have shopped after April 17 or with help from FedEx, the reports said. Yeargan’s lawyer said his client made a mistake and was “worried about the well-being of his wife back home."

Yeargan also addressed the court, saying he made a poor choice, Channel News Asia (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/american-pilot-jailed-for-breaching-stay-home-notice-to-buy-12727486) reported. “I’d like to humbly offer my apologies and say I have the highest regard for the Singapore people and its laws.”


https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2020/05/14/fedex-pilot-from-eagle-river-jailed-in-singapore-for-breaking-covid-19-order/


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/992x661/6di4ifiydfbnzn3wc4flw5rltq_c5e0623fa7c54be0f34b7517b319dae5c 67dae8f.jpg

[wongsuzie]

NO respect for our laws.

very arrogant, reject guilty plea off the bat.

Said never got the quarantine notice.

[fatbus]

Hope he enjoys is fail time ! Even if it gets reduced . No excuses!

[Smooth Airperator]

Best jail treatment in the world, he's lucky.

[White Knight]

For those of you on your High Horses just remember that not everyone can deal with isolation very well. That may, or may not, be the case here. Remember that solitary confinement is used as a punishment in the prison systems; this is what 14 days stuck in a hotel room may feel like to some. Yes, there's Netflix and Uber Eats and Skype and Zoom; that though is never the same as human contact. We are after all sociable beings!

Just a different point of view for the executioners out there!!!

[Dan Winterland]

Singapore is a fine city. There's a fine for just about everything.

[Airbubba]

For those of you on your High Horses just remember that not everyone can deal with isolation very well.

As his parents say in the article, he's a former Army Ranger and he flew C-17's at McChord and in the Alaska Air Guard. I'd assume he's been to whatever SERE school is called these days. He's been locked in a cage before. But maybe never in a hotel room in Singapore.

From the local articles about the trial it appears that someone dropped a dime on him while he was out shopping. Did the company try to contact him and be told that he was not at the hotel? Did the company notify the authorities or was it the other way around?

[Airbubba]

Singapore is a fine city. There's a fine for just about everything.

Yep, Disneyland with a death penalty. :ok:

[Longtimer]

Yep, Disneyland with a death penalty. :ok:
but let us not forget, it is their country, their laws and nothing forces us to visit.

[krismiler]

From the initial press report: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/american-pilot-jailed-for-breaching-stay-home-notice-to-buy-12727486An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer briefed Yeargan on his 14-day stay-home notice, which said that he could not leave his place of residence at all times during the two-week period, even to buy food or essentials.

Yeargan was escorted to Crowne Plaza Changi Airport with two other co-pilots and was reminded again not to leave their hotel rooms at any time.

Being as he is former military, he would be conditioned to obeying orders so his behaviour was surprising.

From the local articles about the trial it appears that someone dropped a dime on him while he was out shopping.

Hotel reception would be high on the list of suspects as they would have known of his restrictions.

In a separate incident, someone was fined $1500 for leaving his house half an hour before his quarantine finished.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/man-fined-1500-for-leaving-home-about-30-minutes-before-coronavirus

SINGAPORE - From a bak kut teh meal to that must-have breakfast fare, timing is everything when it comes to food cravings and measures introduced to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Financial adviser Tay Chun Hsien, 22, felt the urge to have breakfast at a neighbourhood shopping mall even though he had only about 30 minutes to go to the end of his quarantine.

He left his Choa Chu Kang flat to have his meal, a trip that has proven costly.

On Wednesday (April 29), the Singaporean was fined $1,500 after pleading guilty to an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Norman Yew said Tay had been suspected of being a contact of Covid-19, and the director of medical services then ordered him to be isolated in his flat.

Court documents did not state why he was suspected of being a contact at the time.

The DPP added that the written order “stated in bold and underline” that he had to be isolated in his flat from March 19 until March 22 at “1200hrs”.

[hans brinker]

but let us not forget, it is their country, their laws and nothing forces us to visit.

Not that I disagree, but I think FedEx did schedule him to fly there, so not really voluntary either.

[Pugilistic Animus]

A half-hour!? Jeez Singapore is tough...but I guess they are lucky to not have their asses caned.

[Mgggpilot]

I flew to Vietnam recently 72 hours layover and was briefed at the reception not to leave the hotel or else police will be informed.
After all my health is of utmost priority, I must admit I had no plan to leave the hotel.
​

[parabellum]

Think the severe sentences are given to act as a deterrent to Singaporeans who are quite adept at breaking their own laws from time to time.
Despite the death penalty still being used the drug laws get broken just about every day, though often at a minor level.

[Capt Ecureuil]

From the local articles about the trial it appears that someone dropped a dime on him while he was out shopping. Did the company try to contact him and be told that he was not at the hotel? Did the company notify the authorities or was it the other way around?

The local Singaporean authorities have been known to phone crew in their rooms to check on their well being.... no checking up of course, they're just showing their concerned for them.

[Dan_Brown]

When you are present in a country, that you don't hold a passport for, you are a guest. Behave like a guest. That means obeying the rules.

[Anti Skid On]

Here in New Zealand, where we had similar "stay in isolation" orders, before we brought in mandatory 14 day quarantine in hotels, the police were making regular calls to all in self-isolation, and several were caught out. Some Hong Kong tourists were deported for a breach.

[Dutch Jensen]

Last week I signed a document getting into Singapore which stated that the penalty for breaching the quarantaine measures were a fine of 10000$ or up to 6 months of prison, that is for a first time Offender.
Could have been worse.