Sentencing for Hansen Helicopters and its owner John Walker has again been postponed by the Federal District Court in Guam. Sentencing was originally scheduled for December, then delayed until April, and is now indeterminant. Hansen and Walker were found guilty in September 2022 on dozens of counts related to conspiracy; defrauding the FAA and the NTSB; bribery; aircraft parts fraud, causing serious bodily injury and death; falsification of aircraft registration; employing unlicensed mechanics and pilots; wire fraud; and money laundering. Walker, who had been free on $1 million bail since his initial arrest in 2018, was taken into custody pending sentencing. He potentially faces life imprisonment. Other defendants, including Hansen’s vice president, chief pilot, and director of maintenance, will be tried separately later.
Walker purchased Hansen, based in Harmon, Guam, in 1998 after working for the company as a pilot, mechanic, and director of operations. He then grew the company to a fleet of 48 helicopters. The company provided fish spotting helicopters, mainly vintage Hughes 369/OH-6A models, along with pilots and mechanics, to tuna boats in the Western Pacific on contracts that ran $40,000 per month per helicopter, with gross receipts of over $20 million annually.
Both Hansen and Walker, being tried together as separate entities, pleaded not guilty to all charges. During a trial, that began in February 2022, attorneys for both asserted multiple instances of prosecutorial misconduct, filing four separate motions for mistrial. Earlier this month, the Court granted the defendants additional time prior to sentencing to file motions for judgment of acquittal, a new trial, and supplements to the pending motion for mistrial. However, for these matters to move forward, the defense needs a trial transcript. The Court notes that the transcripts will not be available for another eight months “as the court reporter is currently overburdened with pending trials and appeals.”
During the trial, the government alleged that Hansen’s disregard for federal aviation regulations was responsible for up to 30 accidents and nine deaths. Prosecutors admitted more than 3,000 exhibits, 13 terabytes of data, and a long list of witnesses from the FBI, IRS, FAA, and MD Helicopters; former Hansen pilots; fraud investigators and independent safety experts; and even the cousin of one of the prosecutors, who testified about viewing helicopter wreckage. Defense attorneys complained bitterly to Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood that prosecutors engaged in frequent last-minute document dumps relating to new exhibits with very short notice during the duration of the trial. Prosecutors countered that the criminal conduct by Hansen and Walker continued after the initial 2018 indictment through at least January 2021—and potentially longer—necessitating the filing of superseding indictments and additional evidence.
Meanwhile, the cases of other defendants continue to drag on. Timothy Cislo remains free on bond. The former FAA inspector admitted that Hansen had bribed him with “money and hookers” and a vintage Taylorcraft to falsify airworthiness certificates for what prosecutors termed “Frankenstein helicopters.” He pleaded guilty to related fraud charges in 2018, testified against Hansen and Walker, and is awaiting sentencing. Cislo has been the beneficiary of 14 “motion to continue” status hearings since entering his guilty plea and most recently had been residing in Hawaii. His testimony could be required in future, related trials.
That potentially includes the trial of former Hansen maintenance director Phillip “Turner” Kapp, whose proceedings have been delayed while he awaits a liver transplant in Missouri, as well as Marvin Reed, Hansen’s former vice president, who is suffering from an unknown illness and cooperating with prosecutors. The case against Hansen’s former chief pilot, Kenneth “Rufus” Crowe, remains pending.
The case against Randall Rogers, who ran Vanguard Aviation in Valdosta, Georgia, a firm that allegedly assembled those “Frankenstein” helicopters for Hansen, at times with fraudulent data plates, was put on hold last year after he entered hospice care.
Charges against Frank Litkei, Sr., whose Oregon company, Spares allegedly manufactured unapproved tail rotor pitch change links for Hansen, were dropped after he suffered a stroke and later died in 2021. However, an indictment against his company remains in force and the government is seeking substantial forfeiture in connection with those charges, alleging that Spares made $945,000 selling the pitch change links to Hansen. According to his widow, Christine Litkei, neither her late husband’s estate, nor his company, have any significant assets, a charge vigorously contested by prosecutors.
During a status hearing earlier this year, prosecutors alleged that Christine Litkei transferred six-figure cash from Spares into her own account via a company she called “Christine Consulting” shortly before and after Spares was initially indicted, that her late husband’s estate is worth well over $1 million, and that Spares’ assets could be worth as much as $1.5 million. Prosecutor Marie Miller accused Litkei of using Spares’ assets as her “personal piggy bank” and claimed that she had made “intentional misrepresentations” to the government and the Court. “She’s been jerking us around for months,” said Miller. “She’s trying to commit a fraud on this Court.”
Additional status hearings regarding the case are scheduled over the next few weeks.