A federal judge sentenced a man to a year and a day in jail for flying an airplane without a license and failing to file federal income tax returns four years in a row.
Gary Engman, 56, appeared before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge in Boise. In addition to prison time, Judge Lodge also ordered Engman to serve a year of probation and pay a $15,000 fine. Engman has already paid $70,000 in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.
The airplane charge stemmed from a flight that Engman made on April 6, 2006, to Baker City, Ore., in a twin-engine Cessna. When questioned by authorities there, he claimed he had left his airman's certificate at home. But as he later admitted in his plea agreement, the only certificate he ever held was a student pilot certificate that had expired in 1995. After he was questioned, he obtained a new certificate and backdated it to April 6.
Engman formerly owned Western Heritage Timber, a company with offices in three states. However, he failed to file tax returns for the company between 2001 and 2004.
The IRS's Criminal Investigation division and the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inspector General investigated the case, with the help of the Federal Aviation Administration. Engman could not be reached for comment.
