A Russian man has been found guilty of stowing away on a plane after flying from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Los Angeles International Airport in November without a ticket, passport or visa.
Sergei Vladimirovich Ochigawa has been in federal custody since arriving on a Scandinavian Airlines flight with no record as a passenger and embarrassing LAX Customs and Border Protection agents, according to an FBI criminal complaint. ing.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a three-day trial that the 46-year-old man “tailgated an unsuspecting passenger through the security turnstiles” at Copenhagen Airport on Nov. 3. announced that it had been found. The next day, he passed through his boarding gate unnoticed and without a boarding pass and boarded a plane bound for Los Angeles.
Read more: Man without passport or ticket flies from Copenhagen to Los Angeles
According to a Scandinavian Airlines flight attendant, Ochigaba was sitting in a seat that was supposed to be empty. After takeoff, many flight attendants witnessed Ochigaba continuing to walk around the plane, changing his seat and talking to passengers who ignored him, the complaint said. The staff also said they demanded two meals during each meal service and tried to take away the flight attendants’ food.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Ochigaba provided the United States with “false and misleading information about his travels,” including stating upon landing that he had forgotten his passport on the plane. When customs officials searched his bag, they found Russian and Israeli identification documents (where his passport was), but neither would allow him to travel to the United States. Ochigaba also had no record in the U.S. State Department’s visa application database, according to the complaint.
On November 5, Mr. Ochigaba told the FBI that he had not slept for three days, could not understand what was happening, did not know if he had a ticket to the United States, and could not remember how he got through security. No, he said. On the plane, I had no idea why he was in Copenhagen in the first place.
Mr. Ochigaba has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charge, but the jury’s decision on January 26 means that Mr. Ochigaba faces the statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. His sentencing is scheduled for February 5th.