Sentencing In MJ Taping

An air charter businessman who secretly videotaped Michael Jackson on an XtraJet aircraft was sentenced to eight months in federal prison July 24th.

Arvel Jett Reeves was also ordered to spend six additional months in a halfway house that offers drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment and must pay a $1,000 fine.

The businessman originally faced up to five years in prison before a plea agreement in March. XtraJet owner Jeffrey Borer, who ordered Reeves to tape MJ, is scheduled for sentencing in U.S. District Court in September.

Reeves and Borer admitted they installed two digital video recorders in the airplane’s cabin. Jackson and attorney Mark Geragos flew XtraJet from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara in 2003 as they prepared for Jackson’s child molestation trial. The attorney and client were videotaped, but the tapes lacked sound because, according to the plea agreement, Reeves and an unindicted suspect were unable to install remote microphones.

Borer intended “to sell these recordings to the media for a large sum of money,” according to the plea agreement.

Reeves was the owner of Chino, Ca.-based Executive Aviation, which provided maintenance service for XtraJet.