FBI To Give Planes Back

An Alaska air charter company with mysterious ties to at least two intelligence organizations is getting back six of eight L-39 Albatross jets seized by the federal government earlier this year. The planes were taken after Security Aviation and one of its principals, Rob “Commander” Kane, were charged with illegal possession of rocket launchers. The government has now determined that at least six of the planes couldn’t be fitted with the rockets and it’s still examining the other two. A judge has been asked to dismiss the six aircraft from the case and talks are underway to transfer them back to the company. Meanwhile, documents unsealed last Wednesday revealed that, contrary to earlier statements by prosecutors, the federal government now concedes that Kane worked for at least two intelligence agencies. Kane’s role with the feds and its relation to the charges against him will not be part of his defense, however, according to Kane’s lawyer Paul Stockler. “It’s not going to matter. It’s not part of our defense. We weren’t raising as a defense that this was part of his past work for government agencies,” Stockler told the Anchorage Daily News. The weapons charges appear to be an aside to the FBI’s charges that Kane and company owner Mark Avery are involved in fraud relating to a trust account of which Avery is one of the trustees. The FBI alleges that money from the May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust was used to buy aircraft and other equipment.