RALEIGH, N.C. – A judge had stern words as he sentenced a man to six months in prison Tuesday for impersonating an Army general while landing a chartered helicopter at a North Carolina corporate headquarters.

  • Christian Desgroux sentenced to six months in jail.
  • He will receive credit for five months already served.
  • Desgroux became a U.S. citizen in 2016.

U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle also imposed a year of supervised release for Christian Desgroux on a charge of impersonating a military officer.

Desgroux, who pleaded guilty in June, will be credited for more than five months in jail since he was arrested last year.

Federal agents say Desgroux landed the helicopter last November at the corporate campus of SAS Institute, saying he was on a mission authorized by President Donald Trump.

Authorities say the false story was meant to impress a woman who worked there.

Boyle sharply questioned Desgroux about why he wore a general's uniform despite never serving in the U.S. military.

The judge said: “So it was like Halloween every day of the week?”

Desgroux, a native of Chile who worked out of his North Carolina home as a mechanic, has lived in the Raleigh area for several decades and became a U.S. citizen in 2016.