OC Pilot Gets 10 Months in Prison for Flying Out Of Santa Monica Airport Without FAA License

LOS ANGELES, CA - A 37-year-old Irvine man was sentenced Monday to 10 months behind bars for flying private jets without having a valid pilot's license.

Arnold Gerald Leto III was also ordered to serve a year of supervised release after getting out of custody and to pay a $5,500 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Leto pleaded guilty last October in downtown Los Angeles to two federal counts of piloting a plane without a license.

He acknowledged flying a Falcon 10 turbojet with eight passengers aboard from Van Nuys Airport to Las Vegas in April 2016, and a Cessna Citation turbojet from Santa Monica to Phoenix a year earlier.

An affidavit filed in connection with the case states that Leto -- whose pilot license was revoked before the first illegal flight -- operated the Falcon without having the required co-pilot, and was not certified to fly that type of aircraft.

Leto's pilot certificate -- which he failed to surrender after it was revoked in January 2016 by the Federal Aviation Administration -- did not have a turbojet-type rating that would authorize him to fly a Falcon, even if another pilot had been present, authorities said.

-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock