California Pilot Sentenced To Federal Prison | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-09.29.25

AirborneNextGen-
09.30.25

Airborne-Unlimited-10.01.25

Airborne-Unlimited-09.25.25

AirborneUnlimited-09.26.25

Thu, Apr 27, 2017

California Pilot Sentenced To Federal Prison

Admitted To Operating Private Jets With Passengers Onboard Without Proper License 

An Irvine, CA man who admitted that he illegally piloted private jet airplanes with passengers onboard without having a valid pilot’s license has been sentenced to 10 months in federal prison.

Arnold Gerald Leto III, 37, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who also ordered the defendant to pay a $5,500 fine.

Leto pleaded guilty in October to two counts of operating an aircraft without a valid airman’s certificate.

According to court documents, Leto operated aircraft with passengers on a number of occasions without the proper authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration. In January 2015, Leto piloted a Cessna Citation turbojet-powered aircraft, with paying passengers, from Santa Monica to Phoenix prior to receiving any type of airman’s certificate for turbojet-powered aircraft.

The following month, Leto obtained an airman’s certificate that authorized him to be a second-in-command pilot on a Cessna Citation turbojet-powered aircraft, but he continued to operate the Cessna citation as a sole pilot with passengers. For example, in April 2015, he piloted a Cessna Citation from Burbank to Bermuda Dunes and from Santa Monica to Bentonville, Arkansas.

Furthermore, on April 8, 2016, Leto was the sole pilot of a Falcon 10 turbojet-powered aircraft, with passengers on board, that flew from Van Nuys to Las Vegas, Nevada. At this time, Leto was not certified to fly the Falcon 10, and the FAA had revoked all of his airman certificates.

This case was investigated by the Department of Transportation – Office of Inspector General, with assistance by the Federal Aviation Administration, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dennis Mitchell of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section.

(Source: U.S. Justice Department news release)

FMI: www.justice.gov

Advertisement

More News

Ticket Sales NOW OPEN for 2025 Affordable Flying Expo!

Check out https://affordableflying.net/attend/ Right Away and Get YOUR Tickets To the Affordable Flying Expo! OK.... with a little over a month to go, it’s time to get seriou>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (09.29.25)

"Amelia made it almost three-quarters of the way around the world before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished—never to be seen again. Her disappearance, almost 90 years>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (09.29.25)

Aero Linx: Cessna 150-152 Club The Cessna 150-152 Club has been the go-to place for information about the care and operation of the World’s Most Popular Two-Place Airplane si>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (09.29.25): Hover Taxi

Hover Taxi Used to describe a helicopter/VTOL aircraft movement conducted above the surface and in ground effect at airspeeds less than approximately 20 knots. The actual height ma>[...]

Airborne 09.26.25: Army Cuts AV-Ranks, 2025 ATC Hiring, AF Next-Gen Fighter

Also: Purdue In Space?, 4 SpecOps Lost In Helo Crash, Solid-Fuel Ramjet, Ultra-High Airspace Over FL The US Army recently confirmed its plans to thin out its active duty aviation r>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC