Russian man faces 5 years in jail for flying on Denmark-Los Angeles plane without passport or ticket

A Russian man who flew on a plane from Denmark to Los Angeles in November without a passport or ticket is guilty of being a stowaway on an aircraft, a federal jury found on Friday.

Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on November 4 via Scandinavian Airlines flight 931 from Copenhagen. A US Customs and Border Protection officer could not find Ochigava on the flight’s manifest or any other incoming international flights, according to a complaint filed on November 6 in Los Angeles federal court.

After a three-day trial, the court’s jury found Ochigava, 46, guilty of one count of being a stowaway on an aircraft. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison when he is on sentenced February 5, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

Prosecutors presented evidence at the trial that showed Ochigava entered a terminal at Copenhagen airport in Denmark without a boarding pass by tailgating an unsuspecting passenger through a security turnstile. The next day, he boarded the plane undetected, prosecutors said.

The flight crew told investigators that during the flight’s departure, Ochigava was in a seat that was supposed to be unoccupied. After departure, he kept wandering around the plane, switching seats and trying to talk to other passengers, who ignored him, according to the complaint.