Man Who Flew 120 Times For Free By Posing As Flight Attendant Convicted Of Fraud

Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A man was convicted by a federal jury of wire fraud and entering a secure area of an airport under false pretenses after posing as a flight attendant to obtain dozens of free flights over six years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a June 10 statement.

Tiron Alexander, 35, was convicted on June 5 and faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for wire fraud and up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000 for entering the airport’s secure area.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 25.

According to an October 2024 indictment, Alexander worked for an unnamed airline from Nov. 30, 2015 onwards, though his role was not disclosed.

The indictment states that he was never a flight attendant or pilot.

At the time of his employment at the airline, airline pilots and flight attendants were entitled to certain travel privileges based on their position, seniority, and tenure, the indictment states.

“These privileges included the ability to obtain no-cost flight reservations on their employer airline and other airlines with which their employer airline maintained reciprocal interline travel agreements,” the indictment states.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between 2018 and 2024, Alexander posed as a flight attendant for airlines and booked free flights on an airline carrier’s website that were reserved solely for pilots and flight attendants.

Alexander booked and flew on 34 flights with one airline without paying for them, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.

“Over the 34 flights, Alexander claimed through the airline carrier’s website application process—a process that required an applicant to select whether they were a pilot or flight attendant and provide their employer, date of hire, and badge number information—that he worked for seven different airlines and had approximately 30 different badge numbers and dates of hire,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Evidence presented at trial showed Alexander also posed as a flight attendant on three other airline carriers.

In total, Alexander booked more than 120 free flights by falsely claiming to be a flight attendant, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

According to the indictment, Alexander entered a secure area of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Broward County on or about July 22, 2020.

The Transportation Security Administration investigated Alexander’s case. It is unclear when Alexander was arrested or if he has legal representation.

The Epoch Times contacted the Department of Justice for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.