WASHINGTON -- A University of Florida student was sentenced to
three years probation for traveling on airline tickets he stole at
Tampa International Airport, according to Detective Alex Melendez
of the Tampa Airport Police Department.
Aldrin George, 23, received the sentence after pleading guilty
to two felony counts of theft in Circuit Court in Hillsborough
County, Melendez said.
According to the police report, George admitted stealing 1,182
blank tickets that belonged to four airlines. Melendez recovered
the tickets.
Of the tickets, 520 were Delta stock, 374 tickets were American
stock, 287 tickets were US Airways stock and one ticket was
TWA's.
Using the estimate that each stolen ticket would be worth $500,
Melendez said the recovery saved the airlines $591,000.
The police also recovered stolen revalidation stickers, security
stickers, $50 discount coupons, inflight coupons, blank employee
tickets and date stamps, according to the report.
Melendez made the arrest after receiving a tip from a Delta
security official that George was traveling on a bogus ticket. The
detective intercepted George at the airport, then charged him with
two counts of theft for two trips on stolen Delta tickets.
Before the arrest, Melendez said, the student traveled
extensively on stolen tickets he printed himself, and he was quite
familiar with the numbers and codes used on tickets.
"Some of these tickets looked very, very good," Melendez
said.
"He traveled all over the country and the world. One ticket to
the Orient was over $4,000," Melendez said, adding that George
racked up 30,000 miles on one airline and 50,000 miles on
another.