Former Weco Owner Sentenced for Fraudulent Aircraft Part Repairs

In a November 13 hearing in the U.S. District Court, Sacramento, Calif., William H. Weygandt, former owner and president of Weco Aerospace Systems, was ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution to Gulfstream Aerospace for losses related to his conspiracy to commit fraud involving aircraft parts.

In January 2007 Weygandt sold Weco to Gulfstream Aerospace for approximately $17 million. He remained the company’s president until Feb. 1, 2008. Evidence presented at Weygandt’s trial in November 2013 established that Weco employees at both its Lincoln and Burbank repair stations regularly failed to follow FAA regulations in repairing and overhauling aircraft parts and falsely certified that the parts passed tests and had been repaired in accordance with FAA standards. Weygandt was found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud involving aircraft parts repair and was eventually sentenced to 30 months in prison and 36 months supervised release.

Weco specialized in the repair of aircraft parts, including starter-generators and converters used on various types of airplanes and small helicopters.