If you’ve ever watched “Catch Me If You Can,” it’s a familiar premise: A con man poses as an airline pilot to travel for free.
Federal prosecutors accused a Canadian man on Tuesday of doing just that, charging him with wire fraud for a scheme in which they say he pretended to be a pilot and a flight attendant to get hundreds of trips for free.
The man, Dallas Pokornik, used a false identification badge to defraud three airlines for travel benefits, according to an indictment filed in federal court in Hawaii. Mr. Pokornik, 33, had previously worked for an airline headquartered in Toronto as a flight attendant between 2017 and 2019, court documents said, but not as a pilot.
Neither the airline he worked for nor the ones he is accused of fooling have been named.
The indictment accused Mr. Pokornik of falsely presenting himself as a pilot or flight attendant to get free airline tickets via the three airlines, one based in Honolulu, one in Chicago and one in Fort Worth.
He presented a false badge that suggested he was a current employee of the Canada-based airline and so eligible for free tickets, the indictment said. Many commercial airlines offer discounted or free travel to pilots and airline staff if there is space.
Mr. Pokornik was arrested in Panama on Jan. 15. and then extradited to the United States, according to court documents and prosecutors. At his arraignment on Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents, and a judge ordered that he be detained.
A public defender listed as a lawyer for Mr. Pokornik did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors said that Mr. Pokornik sometimes requested the “jump seat” in the cockpit of the aircraft, a seat typically reserved for off-duty pilots, trainees or inspectors, despite not being a pilot or having an airman’s certificate. It was not immediately clear how many flights he had taken and how many of his requests for the jump seat were granted.
His indictment said he was accused of two counts of wire fraud involving tickets issued in Hawaii in 2024. Prosecutors said that, if convicted, Mr. Pokornik could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release.
Prosecutors said in a news release that Mr. Pokornik claimed free flights over the course of four years. The indictment did not say when the scheme started, but said it was in place by January 2024.
A representative for the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Hawaii did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.
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