Pilot Loses Medical after Making False Statements

Steven Michael Demaria of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was convicted by a federal jury for making false statements on his application for an FAA medical certificate. During a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in Miami early this month, the jury learned that Demaria had, in May 2004, tested positive for marijuana in connection with prospective employment as a pilot for a Fort Lauderdale, Fla. air-taxi operator. Based on that drug test, the FAA in July 2004 issued an emergency order of revocation for Demaria's first-class airman medical certificate. Each year between 2012 and 2014, Demaria submitted three new airman medical certificate applications on which he falsely answered that he had never failed a drug test. Demaria was employed as a pilot-in-command for an airline at the time of his arrest in November. The date for Demaria’s sentencing has not yet been set.