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Investigations

Date

Former Virginia State Police Aircraft Mechanic Sentenced

On July 29, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced former Virginia State Police Aircraft Mechanic Michael W. Smith to pay a $100 special assessment upon an earlier entered guilty plea related to entering false statements into an aircraft logbook.
 
On April 10, 2019, Smith conducted an inspection on a Virginia State Police (VSP) helicopter and falsely recorded that he had checked the tension on an air conditioning compressor belt. Smith had a history of administrative and employment actions based on failure to satisfactorily perform aircraft maintenance. Also, prior to his employment at VSP, Smith’s mechanic's certificate was suspended by the Federal Aviation Administration after he certified the airworthiness of a helicopter that subsequently crashed.
 
DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with the Virginia State Police.