Second Colorado Man Takes Plea In Airplane Forfeiture Case

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A second Colorado man has pleaded guilty to a federal charge stemming from the police seizure of an unregistered Cessna airplane and over $250,000 cash two years ago in Cody.

Gilbert Wayne Wiles Jr. of Denver pleaded guilty Friday to aiding and abetting the operation of an unregistered airplane. He faces a sentence of between one and three years of probation at his June sentencing.

Before the plea, Wiles had been set to stand trial in federal court in Cheyenne starting Monday. Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will drop a charge of conspiracy to operate an unregistered airplane against him.

Cheyenne lawyer Dion Custis represents Wiles. "We're able to reach a favorable agreement for him so we think it's a good result, considering all the facts and circumstances," Custis said Monday.

Prosecutor Thomas Szott of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cheyenne declined comment Monday on Wiles' plea.

Prosecutors allege the assets were involved in the illegal drug trade even though prosecutors haven't filed drug charges.

Pilot Scott Michael Lewis of Englewood, Colorado, pleaded guilty last Wednesday to a federal charge of operating an unregistered airplane.

Lewis faces a possible sentence of up to three years in prison, provided U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne accepts his plea agreement with prosecutors at sentencing. However, Johnson remarked at last week's hearing, "This is a case where there very well may be arguments for a probationary sentence."

Federal prosecutors in Cheyenne filed criminal charges in January against Wiles and Lewis. The charges came nearly two years after authorities in Cody seized a Cessna airplane and over the cash from the men.

Prosecutors have alleged in that Wiles had purchased the Cessna plane in Texas for $130,000 cash in 2013, and instructed the seller to make out the bill of sale to a limited liability company incorporated in New Mexico. Prosecutors alleged Wiles told people who serviced the plane that he and Lewis were working for an aerial photography business.

A worker at Yellowstone Regional Airport first notified authorities that the men appeared suspicious after they landed there on Feb. 27, 2014, according to court records. The worker told police the pilot didn't radio the airport before landing and sunshades were lowered over the windows even though the plane was about to be stored in a hangar.

A police officer testified this month a suppression hearing in Cheyenne that a drug dog alerted to the plane but no drugs were found. The officer said he interpreted the dog's actions to mean the plane had been used for transporting drugs in the past. Prosecutors say officers found the cash in a hotel room the men had rented in Cody.

Prosecutors are pressing a separate civil case seeking to forfeit the cash and plane.

Lewis had asserted claims in the civil case asserting ownership of the plane and the cash while Wiles has not filed any claim. Lewis forfeited any interest in the plane under his plea agreement.

- By BEN NEARY, AP Writer

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)