Miami Man Sentenced for Fraud in the Inspection and Repair of Aviation Parts

April 1, 2010 - Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Marlies T. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General (“DOT-OIG”), Miami Field Office; and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) announced that on March 25, 2010, defendant Roland Marichal, of Miami, was sentenced to 16 months’ home confinement and five years’ probation following his conviction for committing fraud in connection with the repair and inspection of aviation parts.

Marichal pled guilty on December 4, 2009, to count one of a nine-count indictment, charging him with fraud involving aircraft parts, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 38. As set forth in the indictment and the factual proffer filed with his plea agreement, between January and July 2007, Marichal was the president and chief inspector of Quantum Aviation (“Quantum”), a former Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) certified repair station. At the plea, Marichal admitted that he was falsely approving flight safety critical components for return to service that were not on Quantum’s FAA capability approval list. Thereafter, to conceal this activity from the FAA, Marichal prepared false work orders for his file.

As a result of this investigation and conviction, Marichal voluntarily surrendered his FAA Repair Station certificate.

Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the DOT-OIG and the FBI. As well, Mr. Sloman thanked the Federal Aviation Administration for its valuable assistance during the course of the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roger Cruz and Michael J. O’Leary.