Tue, Aug 20, 2002
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.
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