Has A Long History of Complaints

Controversial sport aviation entrepreneur, Darus Zehrbach, the President of the now defunct Light Power Engines Corporation, may be heading for prison later this week. Convicted of a count of mail fraud and another count of conspiracy due to actions (involving aviation products and activities) dating back nearly a decade, Zehrbach reportedly could face as much as 10 years in prison. Zehrbach is scheduled for sentencing before the US District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia at Clarksburg at 1300, August 23.

Zehrbach was president of Light Power Engines Corporation which was dissolved in 1996. This is not Zehrbach's only brush with the law. According to court records forwarded to ANN, there is mention of his having served time for an offense in which he was convicted by a middle district Pennsylvania court, in 1993, and a number of persons have asserted his involvement in other misadventures.

The current conviction concerns an indictment issued in December of 2000. Zehrbach was convicted for conspiracy for acts occurring from August 1992 and continuing through the summer of 1996, as well as mail fraud on or about December 15, 1995.

We talked to Zehrbach early Monday and were told, in no uncertain terms, that he is the "victim of a conspiracy" involving a number of parties, including a Federal Prosecutor. He refused to take any responsibility for any of the actions for which he was convicted and recited a litany of persons who were allegedly out to get him, including those associated with competitive businesses. Zehrbach claims the matter is under appeal but one appeal filed last spring has already been refused and he did not cite the basis for any current appeal.

Zehrbach was an exhibitor (under the name of "Zehrbach/LPE") at Oshkosh last month and indicates that he is still involved in some kind of business that he claims has "nothing to do" with the criminal actions that he is currently facing. EAA was not aware of the nature of Mr. Zehrbach's offenses at the time of the Fly-In.

FMI: Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelda Wesley in Clarksburg via fax (304-623-7031) or at 320 West Pike Street, Suite 300, Clarksburg, West Virginia, 26302-0750. Some background may be found at http://vls.law.vill.edu/locator/3d/Jan1995/94a0946p.txt, http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/getcase/3rd/case/940946p.html, http://home.adelphia.net/~aeroengine/Zehrbach.html