A skydiver in San Joaquin County is heading to prison for wire fraud related to unauthorized skydiving instructor courses.
Robert Allen Pooley, 49, of Acampo, was sentenced on Monday to two years in prison after being convicted by a federal jury in May.
The backstory: Pooley initially obtained ratings as a tandem examiner with the U.S. Parachute Association (USPA) and Uninsured United Parachute Technologies LLC (UPT) in 2010.
- He began offering training courses for people looking to obtain their USPA Tandem Instructor ratings and their certifications to use UPT tandem parachutes.
- The certifications that Pooley provided allowed students to conduct tandem jumps with members of the public.
- Pooley charged for the courses and conducted them at his skydiving business in Acampo, a small community located north of Lodi.
The big picture: In August 2015, USPA and UPT suspended Pooley’s tandem examiner ratings, barring him from offering the tandem instructor courses.
- But Pooley continued running the courses without authorizations and hid his suspensions from people taking his classes.
- Further, Pooley helped students fill out their rating paperwork, giving them the impression that they would legitimately get their tandem ratings by taking his classes.
Driving the news: Pooley used a digital image of the signature of another properly rated USPA and UPT tandem examiner to sign off on the training that he had conducted. The other tandem examiner was not located in the United States when Pooley used the signature.
- He had accepted many students with the signature from around the world, including from South Korea, Chile and Mexico.
- Students paid around $1,100 for the courses and signed documents provided by Pooley that led them to believe they were certified to conduct tandem skydives with members of the public.
- On Aug. 6, 2016, one student fell to his death in a tandem skydiving accident with a customer who also died.
- A number of Pooley’s students asked for their money back after the deaths, but Pooley did not repay them.
