A Russian man tailgated an unsuspecting passenger through security at a Denmark airport before he boarded a US-bound flight without a passport or ticket the next day, prosecutors said.
Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava, 46, was found guilty after sneaking onboard a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen to Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 4, 2023.
Following a three-day trial, a jury found Ochigava guilty of one count of being a stowaway on an aircraft, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
Ochigava, who held both Russian and Israeli passports, followed another flyer through a security turnstile at Copenhagen Airport on November 3, 2023, to gain access to one of the terminals, where he remained overnight.
The following day, Ochigava boarded Scandinavian Airlines Flight 931 undetected.
During the 11-hour flight, cabin crew members noticed Ochigava switching among multiple seats that were listed as unoccupied.
Ochigava was stopped by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers after landing at LAX on Nov. 4, when his name failed to appear on any incoming international flight records, including the Scandinavian Airlines flight manifest.
He had also failed to produce any identification or travel documents when asked, and none of his stories had added up to the officials questioning him.
“Ochigava gave false and misleading information about his travel to the United States, including telling CBP that he left his passport on the airplane,” the statement read.
CBP officers searched through Ochigava’s bags, finding what “appeared to be Russian identification cards and an Israeli identification card,” federal officials said in court documents.
They also found a photo on his phone that partially showed a passport containing his name, date of birth and a passport number but not his photograph.
In a criminal complaint, Ochgava claimed he hadn’t “been sleeping for three days and did not understand what was going on.”
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles federal court two days after his arrest, also detailed how Ochigava had wandered around the cabin during the flight and attempted to talk to other passengers, who ignored him.
He also ate “two meals during each meal service, and at one point attempted to eat the chocolate that belonged to members of the cabin crew,” the criminal complaint read.
Ochigava, who said he could have had a plane ticket to the US, also couldn’t explain why he was in Copenhagen in the first place or how he had snuck past security at the airport.
He has been in federal custody since his arrest at LAX on Nov. 4.
US District Judge George H. Wu scheduled a sentencing hearing for February 5.
With Post wires