Summary

On May 30, 2013, in U.S. District Court, Norfolk, Virginia, Richard Patterson of Suffolk, Virginia, a commercial licensed pilot, was sentenced to 4 months  incarceration and 3 years supervised release for making a false statement on an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical certificate application he submitted to the FAA. Additionally, the court ordered Patterson to seek mental health treatment.

The investigation revealed that Patterson submitted three applications in an attempt to obtain a second class medical certificate, where he stated he had never had any surgeries, when in fact he had two back related surgeries. Patterson was subsequently issued second class medical certificates based on these statements.