2 Dutch Tourists Guilty of Trespassing at US Security Site
Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 1:48 pm
This image taken from video posted by the Nye County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019, shows a recorded police interview with Dutch tourists Ties Granzier, left, and Govert Sweep, in the Nye County Jail in Pahrump, Nevada.
LAS VEGAS - Two Dutch tourists who wanted to take video of Area 51 have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespass and illegal parking following their arrests at the secure U.S. government site in Nevada.
A judge on Monday sentenced Govert Sweep and Ties Granzier to three days in the Nye County jail and fined them $2,280 apiece.
They also surrendered computer and camera equipment and an aerial drone.
In a Nye County sheriff's office video news release, Sweep and Granzier say they'll return to the Netherlands after their expected release Thursday.
They were arrested Sept. 10 in a car inside the Nevada National Security Site near Mercury.
That's more than 20 miles (32.2 kilometers) from Area 51, the focus of events this weekend inspired by a hoax Facebook post inviting people to "see them aliens."