Wills Point Man Sentenced for False Statement

TYLER � A 57-year-old Wills Point man has been sentenced for making a false statement to the Federal Aviation Administration. Darryl Glen Reynolds pleaded guilty on June 10, 2010, and was sentenced Wednesday in Tyler to five months in federal prison. Reynolds was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

According to information presented in court, on Dec. 28, 2004, Reynolds wrote a letter to the FAA requesting a new airworthiness certificate for a Beechcraft Baron BE-58P aircraft. He attached a copy of the original certificate, stating that the original certificate had been lost, when he knew the original had been surrendered to the FAA by the original owners of the aircraft, the U.S. Forest Service.

Reynolds incorporated and ran a non-profit corporation, Texas Firebirds Volunteer Fire Department (TFVFD), in Van Zandt County, to be used to provide aerial firefighting support. Reynolds then applied, on behalf of TFVFD, to obtain surplus aircraft through the federal surplus property program. One of the aircraft was a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron, previously used by the U. S. Forest Service. The Beechcraft was provided without an airworthiness certificate, which had been surrendered to the FAA because the aircraft had been determined to have reached its useful life. Reynolds was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2010 and charged with making a false statement.