Russian man, Sergey Ochigava, found guilty of being a stowaway to LAX

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From the Associated Press

A federal jury found Friday that a Russian man who boarded a plane from Denmark to Los Angeles without a passport or ticket was guilty of air smuggling.

Sergei Vladimirovich Ochigawa arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on November 4th on Scandinavian Airlines Flight 931 from Copenhagen.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials were unable to locate Ochigaba on the flight’s manifest or on any other incoming international flights, according to the complaint filed Nov. 6 in Los Angeles federal court.

After a three-day trial, a court jury found Ochigaba, 46, guilty of one count of stowaway in an aircraft.

He could face up to five years in federal prison when he is sentenced on February 5, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that Ochigaba entered the terminal at Copenhagen Airport in Denmark without a boarding pass and accompanied an unsuspecting passenger through a security gate. submitted.

The next day, he boarded a plane undetected, prosecutors said.

A flight attendant told investigators that Ochigaba was sitting in an empty seat when the plane departed.

After departure, he continued to walk around the plane, changing seats and trying to talk to other passengers, who ignored him, according to the complaint.

The complaint also states that the man “ate two meals per meal service and at one point attempted to eat chocolate that belonged to the flight attendant.”

Federal officials said in court documents that when Customs and Border Protection agents searched his bag, they found “what appeared to be Russian identification and Israeli identification.”

A photo was also found on his phone that showed part of a passport with his name, date of birth and passport number, but did not include the photo.

The complaint alleges that Ochigaba “provided false and misleading information about his trip to the United States, including initially telling CBP that he had left his U.S. passport on the plane,” and that he “claimed that he had not slept in three days.” He was actually asleep.” I couldn’t understand what was happening. ”