A Russian-speaking stowaway who arrived in Los Angeles from Denmark with no passport or boarding ticket is facing criminal charges, according to a federal criminal complaint.
The man, 46-year-old Sergey Ochigava, had a Russian and Israeli identification in his belongings. But the complaint charging him did not state what his nationality was or if he was dual citizen.
Ochigava arrived at the The Angels international airport on 4 November. He initially told authorities he had left his passport on the airplane which he flew on.
But the complaint states that investigators grew suspicious of Ochigava after the crew on his Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen, Denmark, described him as a passenger who kept changing seats throughout the flight.
He also asked for two meals while the flight attendants served passengers food, and he allegedly attempted to eat chocolate that belonged to the cabin crew.
Ochigava was not listed on the flight manifest. Customs officers could not locate Ochigava’s records while detaining him at the airport and realized he was a stowaway after all recorded passengers had been processed through customs.
In an interview with the FBI, Ochigava claimed he had a doctorate of philosophy in economics as well as marketing and had last worked in Russia. But he said he had not slept for three days and did not understand what was going on.
Ochigava allegedly claimed he did not know how he got on the plane from Copenhagen, was not sure if he had a ticket, and did not remember how he got through airport security in Denmark without a boarding pass.
Ochigava remained in federal custody on Tuesday and was due in court on 26 December.
He could face up to five years in prison if convicted of being a stowaway on an aircraft, which the US’s federal code defines as a felony.