Two of the three BASE jumpers who leapt off One World Trade Center in September 2013 and posted the videos of their dive were sentenced Monday for their gravity-defying caper. Judge Juan Merchan ordered James Brady and Andrew Rossig, who were found guilty in June of misdemeanor reckless endangerment and of violating a city rule against illegally jumping off buildings, to each pay a $2,000 fine and complete community service — 250 hours for Brady, 200 for Rossig. Though both men dodged jail time, which had been recommended by the Manhattan D.A., Judge Merchan had harsh words for the two daredevils: “These defendants tarnished the building before it even opened and sullied the memories of those who jumped on 9/11,” he said. “Not for sport, but because they had to.” Brady, Rossig, and Marko Markovich, the third member of the BASE jumping crew, were acquitted of the more serious felony charges of burglary. Markovich will learn his punishment on August 17.
