Pilot Pleads Guilty In Federal Court in Tyler

TYLER – In Tyler Federal Court on Thursday, a former Texas pilot has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and arson charges. At sentencing, Theodore Robert Wright, III, 32, of Las Vegas, Nevada, formerly of Kemah, Texas, faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the wire fraud conspiracy count and 5 to 20 years in federal prison on the arson conspiracy count.

Federal prosecutors say Wright led a multi-jurisdictional fraud and arson scheme that spanned from Hawaii to the Gulf of Mexico. It involved the destruction of various assets, including vehicles, aircraft, and vessels. Wright and his co-conspirators, Shane Gordon, 45, and Raymond Fosdick, 41, both of Houston, and Edward Delima, 41, of Honolulu, Hawaii, acquired assets and obtained insurance coverage in amounts exceeding their purchase prices. Wright and his co-conspirators then devised and carried out schemes to destroy the assets and defraud insurance companies.

The assets destroyed in the scheme included a 1966 Beechcraft Baron, a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo, a 1971 Cessna 500, and a 1998 Hunter Passage. The Beechcraft Baron made an emergency landing in the Gulf of Mexico, sank in deep water, and was not recovered. The Lamborghini Gallardo crashed into a ditch full of water, causing the vehicle to flood. The Cessna 500 was completely destroyed when Fosdick set it on fire, at Wright’s direction, at an airport in Athens. The Hunter Passage sank in a marina in Hawaii. Fraudulent insurance claims were filed in relation to each of these incidents. Wright and his co-defendants also filed a fraudulent $1 million personal injury lawsuit related to the crash in the Gulf of Mexico. The suit was settled for $100,000.

Wright’s co-conspirators have all pleaded guilty. At sentencing, Delima faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Fosdick faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the wire fraud conspiracy count and 5 to 20 years in federal prison on the arson conspiracy count. Gordon faces up to 5 years in federal prison. Sentencing dates have not been determined.