PHILADELPHIA, PA – A French national who used a fake airline employee ID to board a plane and enter the cockpit at Philadelphia International Airport has been sentenced to time served following more than a decade in federal custody.
Philippe Jeannard, 61, of La Rochelle, France, was sentenced Friday for one count of fraud involving an identification document. Jeannard had been in custody since March 21, 2013, after being arrested for using a counterfeit Air France ID belonging to a former employee to gain unauthorized access to a commercial aircraft’s cockpit the day before.
Jeannard had posed as an airline employee to board the plane without proper clearance. The incident raised immediate security concerns and led to a federal investigation into the breach.
U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter ordered Jeannard to pay $4,875 in attorney fees, which the court determined he was able to afford. He was also fined a mandatory $100 special assessment.
As part of his sentencing, Jeannard will be deported to France and permanently barred from re-entering the United States unless he receives written permission from the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Key Points
- Philippe Jeannard used a fake Air France ID to access a plane’s cockpit in 2013
- He was sentenced to time served after 12 years in federal custody
- Jeannard will be deported and banned from reentering the U.S. without DHS approval
