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A Russian national who boarded a flight from Denmark to Los Angeles International Airport without a ticket, passport or visa was given an overdue judgment on Monday, February 5, and ordered to pay for the flight.
Sergei Ochigava, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu to 93 days in prison and three years of supervised release, and will pay Scandinavian Airlines $2,174 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. ordered to pay.
Prosecutors said they expect Ochigaba to be taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation proceedings.
Ochigaba, who held both Russian and Israeli passports, was convicted last month in Los Angeles federal court of aircraft stowaway.
Ochigaba is believed to have tailgated unsuspecting passengers through security gates at Copenhagen Airport and allowed them to enter the airport terminal without a boarding pass.
The next day, he passed through the boarding gate unnoticed and stowed away. During the flight, Mr. Ochigaba moved between several unassigned seats, which was noticed by flight attendants.
When the plane landed in the afternoon of November 4, Ochigaba was encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who noticed that he was not registered as a passenger.
Ochigaba provided false and misleading information about his trip to the United States, including telling police officers that he had left his passport on the plane.
Ochigaba has been in federal custody since his arrest.
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