A Russian man was found guilty by a jury Friday of a federal crime for boarding a flight from Denmark to Los Angeles International Airport without a ticket, passport or visa last November.
Sergey Ochigava, 46, who held both Russian and Israeli passports, was found guilty in Los Angeles federal court of one count of being a stowaway on an aircraft, a crime that carries a sentence of up to five years behind bars, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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According to evidence presented at a three-day trial, on Nov. 3, Ochigava tailgated an unsuspecting passenger through a security turnstile at Copenhagen Airport in Denmark so that he could enter one of the airport's terminals without a boarding pass. The next day, he passed through the boarding gate undetected and stowed away aboard a Scandinavian Airlines flight to Los Angeles. During the flight, the cabin crew noticed Ochigava because he moved between multiple unassigned seats.
When the flight landed in Los Angeles on the afternoon of Nov. 4, Ochigava encountered Customs and Border Protection officers at the immigration checkpoint at LAX. CBP officers were unable to find any record of Ochigava and discovered that he was not listed as a passenger on that particular Scandinavian Airlines flight or any other incoming international flight.
Ochigava was unable to produce a passport, a visa or other travel document to enter the United States, according to testimony.
In response to CBP officers' questions, Ochigava gave false and misleading information about his travel to the United States, including telling CBP that he left his passport on the airplane.
Ochigava has been in federal custody since his arrest at LAX on Nov. 4.
U.S. District Judge George H. Wu scheduled a Feb. 5 sentencing hearing for Ochigava.
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