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Home  >  Law In Travel • Spirit  >  How 34 Flights On Spirit Airlines May Lead To 20 Years In Prison
Law In TravelSpirit

How 34 Flights On Spirit Airlines May Lead To 20 Years In Prison

Matthew Klint Posted onSeptember 9, 2020September 9, 2020 18 Comments

A young man now faces a lengthy jail sentence after creating fake ID to secure free flights for himself and his friends. While he ended up with 34 free flights on Spirit Airlines, those tickets might come at a very high cost if he winds up spending time in prison.

How 34 Flights On Spirit Airlines May Lead To 20 Years In Prison

Hubbard Bell once worked for Mesa Airlines in Houston. He was fired. Perhaps in retaliation or perhaps because he was just bored, he broke into the carrier’s employee database and took information including:

  • names
  • dates of hire
  • employee identification numbers

Using those, he created fake IDs for himself and for others. He used his fake ID to book 34 free flights on Spirit Airlines. With unnamed co-conspirators, he also sold fake ID to travelers looking for “free” flights.

It is not clear how he was caught, but Bell recently pleaded guilty to to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. That carries a maximum of prison term of 20 years. The crime took place between February 2016 and November 2017. Bell will be sentenced later this year.

CONCLUSION

In the case of one ex-Mesa Airlines employee, those 34 “free” flights are really going to cost a lot. I am sure there is a joke in here somewhere about going to jail for flying Spirit, but I’m not going to make it. What a sad story. And if Spirit Airlines flights carry pre-paid imputed taxes, he was not even flying for free.

> Read More: Ohio Woman Defrauds United of $400,000+
> Read More: United Wants Employees To Be Vigilant Of One Another

image:  Spirit Airlines

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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18 Comments

  1. T Reply
    September 9, 2020 at 10:13 am

    Remember the former Chief Financial Officer of oneworld who stole over $2M of the company. He pled guilty to the same crime and was only sent to 18 months in prison. I doubt this guy will receive more than 2 years. But he was a Mesa employee, and he did this to Spirit. Am I missing something from the story? They really have issues with security, from IT to airport staff. Unbelievable.

    • Boba Reply
      September 10, 2020 at 12:00 am

      I can personally attest to the lack of security when traveling with firearms!
      I will not go into details for fear of some crazy person reading this but I will say they’re lack of security is very scary!!

  2. derek Reply
    September 9, 2020 at 12:07 pm

    A good deterrent for crime is if the person is sensible and thinks “what if this deed is recorded on video and I have to defend myself in a criminal court”. If so, that piece of merchandise is not worth shoplifting, that car is not worth stealing, that house is not worth burglarizing, that fraudulent scheme is not worth it. Of course, if one has an evil mind, they might justify their act to themselves.

  3. Bob Reply
    September 9, 2020 at 4:16 pm

    I think you mean “CONCLUSION”

  4. Richard John Davis Reply
    September 9, 2020 at 5:17 pm

    You left out the part about an unknown person flying under someone else’s name. Is that legal to do?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      September 9, 2020 at 5:17 pm

      Obviously not.

  5. Passin through Reply
    September 9, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    We all have free will. He decided to steal someone’s property; his former employer- in this case. He got caught. Not sure if he thought they’d mistreated him or owed him money, but he has other recourse if he did.

    Focusing on sentencing I believe that the judge follows a sentencing grid. Despite having 20-year exposure, he has several factors in mitigation, which should generate far less incarceration. These probably include: a) cooperation w/ the Feds; b) pleading out; c) lack of sophistication, and, d) relatively small $ loss. Don’t know if a cyber crime requires incarceration, but he might qualify for a suspended sentence.

    Teachable moment about managing one’s emotions.

    • LC Reply
      September 10, 2020 at 1:40 am

      Respectfully clarifying, he stole someone’s property; his former employer’s customer data. He also stole the identify of multiple victims. Additionally, he used this data to fraudulently trick Spirit in order to enrich himself and others with benefits that they were not owed, at the cost of Spirit. So he also “stole” services for himself and others.

      As for managing one’s emotions, I would understand if someone responded poorly in a heated argument, or in a rare instance said something off-color. Managing one’s emotions is not the issue nor solution for someone who committed fraud and theft for 1 year 9 months? Sadly, there is a severely bent moral compass here, and the sentence should reflect that in protecting and giving guidance to society.

    • Clif Reply
      September 11, 2020 at 9:34 am

      Suspended sentence for wire fraud, stealing identification, selling bogus tickets and IDs to others! Don’t be absurd. He deserve a custodial sentence.

  6. Jalyn Breeze Reply
    September 9, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    Just FYI… I am a flight attendant and I DON’T need to hack a computer to get names, dates of hire and employee numbers of fellow FAs. That information is readily available to me.

    It’s also strange he only chose Spirit. Perhaps he used other airlines too but was only caught using Spirit.

    • TruthinTitles Reply
      September 10, 2020 at 12:48 am

      You mean how “34 flights on any airline might lead to 20 years in prison” …….. The real story here is someone committing identity theft and grand larceny which would result in this kind of hard time regardless of the airline. The title is a bit misleading as it seems like taking too many flights with Spirit Airlines might lead to prison time rather than committing actual fraud leading to prison time.

      • Draugole Reply
        September 11, 2020 at 8:02 am

        His Free Spirit will soon be a locked up Spirit .

  7. Scott Campbell Reply
    September 9, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    He should go to prison for just thinking about flying on Spirit.

    • Cristy Willison Reply
      September 9, 2020 at 10:42 pm

      HE PAID ONE WAY AND THE OTHER …. LOL LOL LOL
      And I agree with Scott Campbell

  8. Jose Villiers Reply
    September 11, 2020 at 6:48 am

    I totally agree with Mr. Campbell, I used Spirit once and I will voluntarily go to jail if I use it again…Lol

  9. james king Reply
    September 11, 2020 at 8:40 am

    Oh, I miss read it….I was looking for 34 fights on Spirit!!!

  10. Robert Laney Reply
    September 11, 2020 at 8:59 am

    Take it from somebody who knows, “The Father of Hidden City Tickets” (YEAH. GO AHEAD AND GOOGLE IT!) he’s NOT going to jail. He won’t be convicted of anything. Just dirty ole airlines blowing smoke yet again. How do I know? IATA once sued me for trademark infringement because our ID’s allowed thousands of travelers fly First Class cheaper than coach or for free. They got a temporary restraining order and sued for millions

    What happened in the end? We settled for $2,000 and they went away like children..Why? Airlines don’t like wasting their own money on legal fees ( and these days they don’t have much $$$ left) and most prosecutors don’t understand the deception of airlines or airfares.

    The WHOLE STORY is available at https://i-reroute.com

    Involuntary Reroute-Where hidden city tickets, travel ID’s, AD75 and other forms of aiding airlines dispose of the leftovers began

  11. James Reply
    September 11, 2020 at 9:22 am

    I don’t think this guy will do all that time. I just don’t see it. But he will pay some money and little time. I once flow on spirit a guy needed a soda he was he wanted to use his debit card the woman said sorry we not taking debit cards today. The man said he was a diabetic she didn’t care. I purchased the man soda. From that day forward I never set foot on their plane again and never will.

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