A 26-year-old Wichita woman has been indicted in connection with a series of airport burglaries in four states, including a May 2005 burglary at Strother Field Airport.
Chauncey L. Gaynor is charged with one count of transporting stolen goods across state lines, three counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud.
Michael S. Wagner, 26, Hutchinson, was first indicted in the case in December 2007. His case is set for trial in U.S. District Court Oct. 29, according to Jim Cross, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Wagner was a private pilot working as a fixed-based operator and Gaynor was a friend who was knowledgeable in the workings of computers. Wagner was arrested in January 2006 after Lyon County Sheriff’s officers observed his car parked on a country road near Emporia Municipal Airport at a time when a burglary occurred at the airport, Cross said.
The indictment against Wagner also accuses him of being involved in burglaries at the Front Range Airport in Denver, the R.L. Jones Riverside? Airport in Tulsa, the Collin County Airport in McKinney, Texas, and the Municipal Airport in Ponca City. He is charged with three counts of transporting stolen goods across state lines, two counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud.
Gaynor assisted Wagner in establishing an eBay account and using it to sell stolen items, and accompanied Wagner on some of the burglaries, the indictment alleges.
The crimes carry the following penalties:
-Transporting stolen goods: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.
– Wire fraud: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000.
– Mail fraud: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation worked on the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi is prosecuting.
