Imagine someone pissed on your boots, told you it was raining, and the next day asked you for a case of Spam. The federal government can be funny that way.
The only man originally-charged in the Hansen Helicopters case still facing prosecution by the federal government – Rufus Crowe – lent that same government a specialized tool to fix military aircraft.
The irony is astounding, considering the U.S. Attorney is trying to send Mr. Crowe to jail essentially on accusations that Hansen Helicopters allegedly endangered lives by the use of its equipment.
“I did consider the irony, yes,” Mr. Crowe told Kandit.
He is awaiting trial in the U.S. District Court of Guam for his alleged role in what the Federal Aviation Administration believes was a conspiracy to defraud the FAA and skirt federal regulations. The others, who originally were charged, either have plead out or otherwise no longer face prosecution after helping the government’s case against Mr. Crowe. The company’s former president, John Walker, last year lost his case at trial.
The U.S. military, which recently hosted carrier exercises on Guam, needed to fix one of their mission-critical planes. The military command did not have a certain tool to fix one of these Greyhound planes, according to Hansen mechanic Dodd Plew.
“We just lent it to them,” Mr. Plew said.
The military couldn’t find the tool anywhere in its inventory, or anywhere else on Guam.
There was no charge to the U.S. Government. Neither Crowe, Plew, nor anyone else at Hansen sent out any news release. The irony of the gesture was just so thick, someone from the military decided to tip off Kandit to it:
The U.S. Government wants to send Rufus Crowe to jail for endangering lives with his company’s equipment. Then it turns around and asks Rufus Crowe to borrow his company’s equipment… for our nation’s security, nonetheless.
You can’t make this stuff up.
