A Mooney and his drugs

[Unit74]

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/tulsa-pilot-arrested-after-100-pounds-of-meth-found-on-plane-at-jones-riverside-airport/article_b6377272-8768-11eb-950e-97ce4ef21612.html

 

Mooney driver running crank.  Some will do anything to fly. 

[carusoam]

Kind of a sad story...

 

[1964-M20E]

Did he have part 135 for commercial operations? 

[Niko182]

All he was looking for was a way to quickly and efficiently move product. Mooneys the right plane.

[N201MKTurbo]

Hay, that airport is named after me!
 

How can you go wrong turning base over a giant pair of golden praying hands!

[DXB]

In defense of the pilot, his name (Badlands Justice Rush McNally) pretty much makes it mandatory that he build a vast shadowy criminal enterprise that one day becomes the basis for a popular Netflix series. 

Edited March 23, 2021 by DXB
typo

[gsxrpilot]

1 hour ago, DXB said:

In defense of the pilot, his name (Badlands Justice Rush McNally) pretty much makes it mandatory that he t build a vast shadowy criminal enterprise that one day becomes the basis for a popular Netflix series. 

Thursdays following the Tiger King on CBS...

[steingar]

This whole thing is very problematic.  100 pounds of meth?  That aircraft could have easily hauled a thousand.

[N201MKTurbo]

I had a friend who owned a house in Lake Havasu City and I've spent a little time there. It makes total sense that he would depart from there with a bunch of meth....

[Hank]

2 hours ago, steingar said:

This whole thing is very problematic.  100 pounds of meth?  That aircraft could have easily hauled a thousand.

Maybe he was expecting the "personal use" exclusion?

[Mark89114]

I sent the article to my airplane mechanic and he had a conversation with Mr. Badlands a year ago about buying his twin.  Small world.

[0TreeLemur]

When I first saw this thread, I mistakenly thought it read "Al Mooney and his Drugs".   Gotta read that.

[carusoam]

On 3/22/2021 at 5:37 PM, Mark89114 said:

I sent the article to my airplane mechanic and he had a conversation with Mr. Badlands a year ago about buying his twin.  Small world.

Really small world...

The aviation world is not tremendously large.

If it is a Mooney story... someone here will probably know the pilot...

If it is an MSer story... We all will know the pilot...

The cool thing... all the crummy Mooney stories usually happen to the other guys... non MSers...   

Best regards,

-a-

[201Steve]

I’ve seen that guy chime in on the Mooney Pilots Facebook group. I figured it was just a nickname or alias but turns out he had creative parents. 

[201er]

On 3/22/2021 at 10:57 AM, steingar said:

This whole thing is very problematic.  100 pounds of meth?  That aircraft could have easily hauled a thousand.

He didn’t want to impose on the weight and balance. Baggage compartment limit 120lbs so there you go.

However, I think he’s in trouble with the FAA for accepting compensation for flight on a private pilot certificate. “McNally said he was paid between $7,000 and $12,000 to make the flights, the affidavit says.”

[Hank]

6 hours ago, 201er said:

He didn’t want to impose on the weight and balance. Baggage compartment limit 120lbs so there you go.

However, I think he’s in trouble with the FAA for accepting compensation for flight on a private pilot certificate. “McNally said he was paid between $7,000 and $12,000 to make the flights, the affidavit says.”

Busted for not having a 135 certificate!

[1964-M20E]

1 hour ago, Hank said:

Busted for not having a 135 certificate!

Kind of like getting busted for not paying sales taxes to gov't when selling drugs.

[Hank]

26 minutes ago, 1964-M20E said:

Kind of like getting busted for not paying sales taxes to gov't when selling drugs.

I thought that was what Elliott Ness and the G Men got a lot of Chicago gangsters into court on, not paying taxes on bootleg liquor, ladies of the evening and other ill-gotten gains.

[1964-M20E]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

I thought that was what Elliott Ness and the G Men got a lot of Chicago gangsters into court on, not paying taxes on bootleg liquor, ladies of the evening and other ill-gotten gains.

I think the Feds have a tax stamp for marijuana that you can get but it does tip them off that you are moving product.  At least they can't charge you with not paying the taxes on it.

[cwaters]

13 hours ago, 201er said:

He didn’t want to impose on the weight and balance. Baggage compartment limit 120lbs so there you go.

However, I think he’s in trouble with the FAA for accepting compensation for flight on a private pilot certificate. “McNally said he was paid between $7,000 and $12,000 to make the flights, the affidavit says.”

so this raises an interesting question to me. Would he need the 135 cert if he was producing and selling the meth not just moving it? 

 

So if I make and sell candles and want to take them to a trade show in another state do I need a 135 cert or even a CPL?  Or can I do that as a PPL since its my business and my product and flying is purely incidental to the movement of the candles? 

 

- Just a PPL, not a drug dealer

[chriscalandro]

Was the meth trip incidental coincidental, or planned.

 

If he was paid specifically fly that is different than being paid to move the meth and choosing to do it in the airplane.

Edited March 24, 2021 by chriscalandro

[cwaters]

Just now, chriscalandro said:

Was the meth trip incidental coincidental, or planned.

 

If he was paid specifically fly that is different than being paid to move the meth and choosing to do it in the airplane.

I guess this is the focus of my question. 

[Will.iam]

On 3/24/2021 at 12:52 PM, chriscalandro said:

Was the meth trip incidental coincidental, or planned.

 

If he was paid specifically fly that is different than being paid to move the meth and choosing to do it in the airplane.

Seems like semantics to me. 

[chriscalandro]

14 minutes ago, Will.iam said:

Seems like semantics to me. 

Well, that's how the regs like to roll.

[aviatoreb]

Well - they got Al Capone for tex evasion.