Summary

On March 9, George Myles, Jr., owner of Miles Aviation, Inc., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Miami, Florida, to 78 months imprisonment for making materially fraudulent representations concerning the condition of aircraft parts. Myles was convicted by a federal jury in November. According to evidence at trial, between 2005 and 2006, Myles purchased used aircraft parts and resold them to the Department of Defense as "new" or "new surplus." The engine parts Myles falsely certified on Defense Department forms were flight-critical; their failure could be potentially catastrophic and/or cause serious damage to aircraft. Myles also sold numerous aircraft parts to non-military users, fraudulently certifying that the parts were airworthy. As neither Myles nor Miles Aviation, Inc. were licensed by the FAA to perform inspections, repairs, or overhauls, they could not certify the airworthiness of aircraft parts. This investigation was conducted with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the NASA Office of Inspector General.