When Sergey Uchigawa arrived at the Los Angeles airport in the United States in November, he had neither a US visa, a passport, nor a plane ticket.
On Friday, a court in the US state of California found him guilty of the crime of sneaking into the country by sitting on a plane.
On November 4, US authorities arrested Sergei at the Los Angeles airport after they found no evidence that Sergei had a ticket or visa. Sergei faces up to five years in prison.
How did Sergei reach America without a passport and ticket?
According to prosecutors, Sergei managed to sneak past security at Denmark's Copenhagen Airport by following a passenger.
He further said that the next day, Sergei managed to board a Scandinavian Airlines flight to Los Angeles unnoticed.
According to Sergei's indictment documents, during the flight, the crew noticed him while he was repeatedly changing his seat.
During the flight, Sergei begged for food twice and even tried to eat the flight attendant's chocolate.
A flight attendant said that Sergi was trying to communicate with other passengers but no one answered him.
When Sergei landed at the Los Angeles airport on November 4, he was stopped by US border officials for questioning. Authorities have found no evidence of Sergey's arrival on Scandinavian Airlines or any other airline. Upon searching, Sergei's bag was found with his Russian and Israeli ID cards.
He is accused of providing 'false and misleading information' about his trip to the US. Initially, he told the authorities that he had forgotten his passport on the plane.
Sergei told the authorities that he might have a 'plane ticket'. But they are not sure.
He also said that he did not remember how he got on the flight. Sergei claimed that he had not slept for three days.
He has been in custody since his arrest and faces up to five years in prison. The formal announcement of the sentence will be made on February 5.
0 Comments