Plane thief sentenced, advised to watch "It's a Wonderful Life"

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A 31-year-old Canadian man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for stealing a plane in Canada and flying over three states before landing in Missouri.

Adam Dylan Leon might have received only 12 to 18 months. But U.S. District Judge Charles Shaw said his actions posed risks of danger, and cost the government to track his seven-hour flight.

He also had some advice for Leon who said he had hoped to be shot down. His attorney, Lucille Liggett, said he suffered from severe depression from the death of his parents in 2002.

Shaw told Leon it would be worth his while to see the classic film, "It's a Wonderful Life," about a despairing man who comes to know through an angel what life would have been like if he never had lived.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)