A Texas man who allegedly tried to board a Spirit Airlines flight at Los Angeles International Airport using a fake airline-employee identification badge is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on fraud and identity-theft charges.
Alphonso Lloyd, 25, is accused along with two other people in a scheme to manufacture fake Mesa Airlines employee ID badges and use them to take of free flights on "non-rev" passes, which are perks offered to airline
employees, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Lloyd was indicted in August along with Kamille Jemison, 26, a former Houston resident who now lives in Los Angeles, and Hubbard Bell, 30, a Houston resident and former Mesa Airlines employee. Jemison and Bell have both already pleaded not guilty. Jemison is free on $20,000 bond, while Bell remains in custody on an unrelated case, prosecutors said.
Lloyd was arrested in Texas last month and freed on bond, but was ordered to appear before a judge for arraignment in Los Angeles.
According to prosecutors, Bell and Jemison used Mesa Airlines employee information to book free flights on Spirit Airlines for themselves and others, including Lloyd. The trio -- and others -- are believed to have taken hundreds of free flights using the bogus employee IDs in 2016 and 2017.
Lloyd allegedly tried to board a Spirit Airlines flight at LAX with a bogus identification badge on May 6, 2017.
Lloyd and Jemison face up to 37 years in prison if convicted, while Bell faces up to 30 years behind bars, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
