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Troopers also executed a search warrant on
Jouppi’s business. Troopers had been watching
Jouppi for several months. At that time the
aircraft was confiscated and hangar by State
troopers in Anchorage. Back in
October Jouppi was convicted for allowing a
passenger to load alcohol onto a plane bound for
a dry county.
Judge Hammers sentenced Jouppi to a mandatory
minimum sentence sentenced of three days in jail
and a $1,500 fine. The court had not determined
at that time as to weather or not to confiscate
Jouppi’s Cessna 206. Jouppi argued before the
court he was unaware at the time that his
passenger had brought beer onboard the aircraft
and was storing it within his packages.
Judge Hammers said at the October sentencing he
thought the aircraft should be confiscated in
order to send a message to other aircraft
operators. “If you do it (help alcohol
smugglers) and get caught, you lose your
airplane, a message that it’s not worth it.” However,
Judge Hammers rescinded his early thinking after
Jouppi's lawyer, Robert John argued in court
that his client’s aircraft never left Fairbanks
International Airport for the town of Beaver.
Judge Hammers said “Forfeitures are not
favored in the law. A statute which imposes
forfeiture must be strictly construed. Its
effects cannot be extended beyond its plain,
ordinary, and usual meaning, applied with
common sense. In this case, plain, ordinary
and usual meaning of the word import doesn’t
apply to beer sitting on a tarmac bound for
a destination”.
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