MACON, Ga. – A South Florida man could spend a decade behind bars after pleading guilty Wednesday to stealing a plane in Georgia and then flying it to North Carolina without a license, prosecutors said.
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A news release from the U.S. Department of Justice states that Rufus Crane, 27, of Coconut Creek, pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen aircraft in Macon, Georgia federal court.
Authorities said Crane, a student pilot, stole the Beechcraft Bonanza A-36 from a hangar at the Perry, Georgia airport on May 4 and flew it to Waxhaw, North Carolina.
He then left Waxhaw the next day, stopped in South Carolina in an attempt to refuel and flew back to Perry.
“When Crane arrived in Perry at approximately 5:47 a.m., he could not land safely because the area was too foggy for him to see the runway,” leading him to divert to Cochran, Georgia, authorities said.
Prosecutors said he then refueled and flew back to Perry.
“During these flights, which took place in the middle of the night, he also kept the transponder of the Bonanza turned off, which meant the plane did not send signals to air traffic control to provide information on the plane’s location, altitude and speed,” the news release states.
Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker said Crane “put his own life and the lives of others at risk, despite not being fully trained or holding a pilot’s license.”
He’s set to be sentenced on Sept. 17.