A man who flew from Denmark to Los Angeles without a ticket or passport has been found guilty of stowaway and could face up to five years in prison.
Sergei Vladimirovich Ochigawa, 46, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on November 4th on Scandinavian Airlines Flight 931 from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Somehow, he managed to travel without even a boarding pass or passport.
However, his alleged memory loss was not a successful defense in court, although prosecutors outlined how he was actually able to board the plane illegally.
It was revealed that the previous day, on November 3, Ochigaba had followed another flyer through a security gate at Copenhagen Airport.
This gave him access to one of the terminals, where he remained overnight to obtain the keep.
The next day, the man, who had both Russian and Israeli passports, managed to board a Scandinavian Airlines flight undetected.
After boarding the 11-hour long-haul flight, flight attendants noticed that Mr. Ochigaba was regularly switching seats to seats marked as vacant.
However, Ochigaba’s illegal mission ended when he landed in Hollywood after being stopped by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Los Angeles International Airport.
This came after authorities became suspicious of Ochigaba because his name did not appear in the flight logs of incoming international flights, including Flight 931, on which he was aboard.
Prosecutors said he did not provide any identification to officials at the scene in Los Angeles, but none of his stories seemed to add up.
“Mr. Ochigaba provided false and misleading information regarding his travel to the United States, including telling CBP that he had left his passport on the plane,” local officials said in a statement.
CBP officers found a photo on the man’s cell phone that showed a portion of his passport, including his name, date of birth, and passport number.
But there’s one thing missing? Photos, of course.
Authorities also found “what appears to be a Russian identity card and an Israeli identity card.”
Court documents also state that Ochigaba “claimed that he had not slept in three days and did not understand what was happening.”
After a three-day trial, a jury found Ochigaba guilty of one count of stowing away in an aircraft.
He currently faces up to five years in federal prison as a result of his travel stunt.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on February 5th.