5.29.24 Skydiving Tandem Instructor Examiner Found Guilty of Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identify Theft.

[F104 Starfighter 5]

This showed up on my Google news. From the SF Chronicle/SF Gate Website.

A skydiving instructor who taught courses at the beleaguered Lodi Parachute Center in San Joaquin County has been found guilty of fraud and identity theft as part of a scheme tied to two deaths at the site.

The seven-day trial in Sacramento outlined how Robert Pooley, 49, certified student tandem instructors using a forged signature after his own license was revoked. Pooley charged around $1,100 for the courses, which enabled instructors to take first-time jumpers into the sky, prosecutors said. 

One of the instructors falsely certified by Pooley, a 25-year-old Korean man named Yong Kwon, died while harnessed in tandem with first-time jumper 18-year-old Tyler Turner in August 2016, after Kwon was unable to successfully deploy neither the main parachute nor the reserve one.

That tragedy resulted in a $40 million civil judgment against the center’s former owner, Bill Dause. Tyler’s mom Francine Turner told SFGATE last year that, as of July 2023, none of that money had been paid. Pooley was not charged with causing the death of Kwon or Turner. 

“Pooley falsely told students that he was a tandem examiner, led them to believe they could obtain USPA and UPT tandem ratings through his courses,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement on Friday, referring to the United States Parachute Association and United Parachute Technologies. “Pooley accepted numerous students in this manner from around the world, including the Republic of Korea, Chile, and Mexico,” according to the statement.

To falsify the students’ certifications, Pooley used the digital image of the signature of another instructor who was out of the country.

Pooley faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and a two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. His sentencing is set for Aug. 26. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. 

The Lodi Parachute Center has been the site of 28 fatalities since 1985. Alongside the $40 million 2021 civil judgment brought by the Turner family, the center was issued fines totaling $933,000 by the FAA in 2010 and 2011, and it was subject to an FBI raid in 2018. The center remains open today. 

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/lodi-skydiving-instructor-found-guilty-19481878.php

Edited May 30 by F104 Starfighter

[F104 Starfighter 5]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After a seven-day trial, a federal jury found Robert Allen Pooley, 49, of Acampo, guilty of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft related to tandem skydiving instructor courses, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in 2010 Pooley obtained ratings as a “tandem examiner” with the U.S. Parachute Association (USPA) and with Uninsured United Parachute Technologies LLC (UPT), a manufacturer of tandem parachute systems. He then began conducting training courses for candidates seeking to obtain their USPA Tandem Instructor ratings and/or their certifications to use UPT tandem parachute systems. The Tandem Instructor certifications Pooley provided enabled students to conduct tandem jumps with members of the public throughout the United States and abroad. Pooley charged money for these courses and conducted them at a skydiving business located in Acampo.

In August 2015, USPA and UPT suspended Pooley’s tandem examiner ratings, which meant that he could no longer conduct the tandem instructor courses on his own. Nevertheless, he continued running USPA and UPT tandem instructor rating courses without authorization, and he concealed his suspensions from tandem instructor candidates. Pooley falsely told students that he was a tandem examiner, led them to believe they could obtain USPA and UPT tandem ratings through his courses, hid the fact that he had been suspended, and helped students fill out USPA and UPT rating paperwork to further the impression that the students would legitimately get their tandem ratings through his courses.

As part of the scheme, Pooley used a digital image of the signature of another properly rated USPA and UPT tandem examiner to sign off on training that Pooley himself had conducted when the other tandem examiner was not even in the country. In 2016, Pooley accepted numerous students in this manner from around the world, including the Republic of Korea, Chile, and Mexico. Each student paid approximately $1,100 for these courses. The signed documents that Pooley provided some of the students led them to believe they were certified to conduct tandem skydives with members of the public. On Aug. 6, 2016, one such student fell to his death in a tandem skydiving accident with a customer who also perished. After those deaths, numerous victims of Pooley’s scheme asked for their money back, but he did not repay them, and several students had to pay for entirely new tandem instructor courses at other locations.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine T. Lydon and Dhruv M. Sharma are prosecuting the case.

Pooley is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 26, 2024, by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb. Pooley faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of wire fraud and a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/san-joaquin-county-skydiver-found-guilty-running-unauthorized-tandem-skydiving

Edited May 29 by F104 Starfighter

[F104 Starfighter 5]

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/deaths-california-lodi-skydiving-center-19361603.php

[F104 Starfighter 5]

https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Skydive-Lodi-Parachute-Center-arrest-lawsuits-16271366.php

[F104 Starfighter 5]

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/deaths-california-lodi-skydiving-center-19361603.php

[F104 Starfighter 5]

If Robert Pooley was found Guilty of the Charges of Fraud and Identity Theft, does that assist or clear Bill Dause of the 40 Million Dollar Lawsuit caused when one of Pooleys Tandem Instructor Students Yong Kwon died with his Tandem Passenger  Tyler Turner at Lodi?

Edited May 30 by F104 Starfighter

[dudeman17 303]

Why were his examiner ratings suspended?

[jerm 0]

16 hours ago, F104 Starfighter said:

If Robert Pooley was found Guilty of the Charges of Fraud and Identity Theft, does that assist or clear Bill Dause of the 40 Million Dollar Lawsuit...

IANAL but i imagine it would depend on whether or not they could prove that Dause knew about it.

[gowlerk 2,013]

18 hours ago, F104 Starfighter said:

If Robert Pooley was found Guilty of the Charges of Fraud and Identity Theft, does that assist or clear Bill Dause of the 40 Million Dollar Lawsuit

The lawsuit has been concluded.

[jakebaustin 9]

9 hours ago, jerm said:

IANAL but i imagine it would depend on whether or not they could prove that Dause knew about it.

IANAL? what does that mean TAAGR(These acronyms are getting ridiculous)

[JerryBaumchen 1,168]

5 minutes ago, jakebaustin said:

IANAL? what does that mean TAAGR(These acronyms are getting ridiculous)

Hi jake,

I had to look it up also:  I am not a lawyer

Quiz next Friday,

Jerry Baumchen

[wolfriverjoe 1,400]

10 hours ago, jakebaustin said:

IANAL? what does that mean TAAGR(These acronyms are getting ridiculous)

https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=What+Does+IANAL+mean%3F



Edit to add: I had to look it up too.

Edited May 31 by wolfriverjoe

[wolfriverjoe 1,400]

On 5/29/2024 at 7:12 PM, F104 Starfighter said:

If Robert Pooley was found Guilty of the Charges of Fraud and Identity Theft, does that assist or clear Bill Dause of the 40 Million Dollar Lawsuit caused when one of Pooleys Tandem Instructor Students Yong Kwon died with his Tandem Passenger  Tyler Turner at Lodi?

This was actually a large part of Dause's (attempted) defense.

He claimed he had allowed a subcontractor to teach an independent class and took him at his word and reputation that he was a current instructor.

However, it's a not that hard for even a non-USPA DZ to check credentials. 
And very foolish not to.

Just about EVERY jumper who came out of Lodi has said very emphatically that Dause was 'king of his kingdom'. 
That he knew everything that was going on there. 
For him to claim that 'he didn't know' was ridiculous. For him to claim that the TI class was not part of the DZ operations and he didn't have anything to do with it is even more so.

I heard a jumper who had started at Lodi that it wouldn't surprise her that Dause had the TI/E shortcut the course to get the TI candidates through faster.