Mechanic pays restitution

A man who fraudulently performed annual inspections on airplanes paid $10,754 in restitution when he was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Spokane.

James M. Sebero, a former Bonner County sheriff’s deputy who lives in LaClede, Idaho, will be barred from doing any work on aircraft for the next five years while he is on federal probation.

Sebero pleaded guilty in June to “making a false writing,” a federal misdemeanor, related to Federal Aviation Administration paperwork he fraudulently completed after performing annual inspections on planes.

In exchange for his plea, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed to seek dismissal of three related felony charges.

Before sentencing by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Justin Quackenbush, Sebero told the court he had performed annual inspections on aircraft without being licensed by the FAA to perform that work.

“I did this … and knew it wasn’t right,” he told the court.

The judge said he was inclined to fine Sebero for violating the law in addition to ordering restitution be paid to the defrauded aircraft owners.

“It’s a matter of public safety,” Quackenbush said, adding that private pilots, including himself, rely on properly licensed aircraft mechanics for annual inspections of their planes.

The written plea agreement between Sebero’s assistant public defender, Bob Fischer, and the U.S. attorney’s office called only for restitution and five years of probation, not a fine. If the judge had strayed from those conditions, Sebero could have withdrawn his guilty plea and demanded a trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Ellis said the government was asking for the probation, banning Sebero from working on aircraft, “so we have some leverage on him.

“I want to make sure Mr. Sebero doesn’t get back in the aircraft industry,” the prosecutor told the court.

Barring him from such work is a fine in itself, the defense added.

After Sebero pleaded guilty in the FAA falsification cases, he was indicted in Spokane and Idaho on separate federal charges accusing him of swindling the Veterans Administration out of $1.5 million by falsely claiming to be a paraplegic.

While getting those disability checks from the U.S. government, Sebero was flying a helicopter, operating heavy equipment and working as a marine deputy sheriff for Bonner County, the new charges allege.

It remains unknown whether the federal fraud charges filed in the Eastern District of Washington or similar charges filed in the District of Idaho will be taken to trial first.