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February 1, 2015 - Colorado
physician, Dr. David Lawrence Rhodes, pleaded
guilty in U.S. District Court, New Orleans,
Louisiana, to conduct
related to the presentation of a fraudulent
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman
medical certificate.
Rhodes presented the certificate to an agent of
the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
during a pilot compliance check at Lakefront Airport
in New
Orleans. He also pleaded
guilty to entering the secure areas of the
airport under false pretenses when he piloted an
aircraft without a valid FAA license.
Prior to presenting the fraudulent document, Rhodes acted as the Pilot in Command of a Mooney M20B (a
propeller driven general aviation airplane),
which an FAA inspector later determined as
unsafe for continued flight.
The investigation revealed that Rhodes' authentic FAA medical certificate was last issued
on October 13, 2005, and expired on October
31, 2007. The medical certificate Rhodes presented to the CBP agent had a fraudulent issue
date of June 14, 2013.
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