Knight Ridder Newspapers

FORT WORTH, Texas – (KRT) – The former New York shipping clerk who got in a cargo crate and shipped himself from Newark, N.J., to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport to visit his parents in DeSoto, Texas, was sentenced Wednesday to one year’s probation, which includes 120 days of house arrest and a $1,500 fine.

Stowaway Pleads Guilty

Charles McKinley, 25, did not speak to reporters after he was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Bleil. McKinley, who pleaded guilty Nov. 6 to stowing away on an aircraft, could have received up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.

Bleil said that even though McKinley’s breach of security came as the airlines continue to face heightened scrutiny, he gave him probation because the “offense was to avoid paying airfare for a plane flight home. “I don’t like what you did. It was wrong and very stupid,” Bleil said. “But I’m glad you are standing here this morning, rather than have met a fate much worse by the stupidity of your actions.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Schattman and McKinley’s defense lawyer, Bill Glaspy [of Imhoff & Associates, P.C. Criminal Defense Attorneys], said they were satisfied with Bleil’s sentence. McKinley will live at his parents’ house in DeSoto during his probation, Glaspy said.

Difficult for Convicted Stowaway to Obtain Employment

As part of the terms of his probation, McKinley must work. He had a job at a food company after his November plea. But that company would have wanted McKinley to drive in and out of D/FW Airport, Glaspy said, and after the company did a security check, McKinley lost that job. “He has had a hard time finding a job and part of it was that nobody knew if he was going to be there” after sentencing, Glaspy said. After he embarked on his 1,500-mile trip that began Sept. 5 and ended a day later, McKinley served three weeks in jail at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas on outstanding warrants for a probation violation and a traffic ticket. He continued to serve jail time after pleading guilty to violating probation on a theft by check conviction.

Details of the Stowaway Exposes Security Loopholes

McKinley said he made the trip because he didn’t have any money and he was homesick. Originally, McKinley claimed that a United Parcel Service pilot friend helped him bypass airport security and that he was able to free himself from his 42-by-36-by-15-inch crate during the flight and wander around the cargo area.

In plea documents, however, McKinley said he acted alone and was unable to leave his crate. The shipping documents said the crate contained a computer, a monitor and clothes, according to a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent.

A one-way ticket from New York, booked online in advance, would have cost about $270. McKinley’s family has already paid about $6,800 in restitution to UPS to compensate the shipping company for its troubles, Glaspy said.

His journey exposed security loopholes in cargo shipments and sparked a debate about tightening cargo screening.