SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) – United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Stancil Enterprises Inc., a Placerville corporation that sold aircraft, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to aid and abet structuring financial transactions.
The guilty plea was entered before United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. Joseph Stancil, the owner and president of Stancil Enterprises, spoke on behalf of the company at the plea hearing, admitting the factual basis for the plea was accurate.
As part of the plea, Stancil Enterprises agreed to forfeit $428,589 to the U.S. Government. Joseph Stancil and salesman Daniel Mathis were also charged with conspiracy to aid and abet structuring financial transactions.
Stancil Enterprises and its agents were required by federal law to report the receipt of cash in amounts exceeding $10,000 for a single transaction unless a bank was required to report the transaction on a Currency Transaction Report (relating to cash transactions of over $10,000 made for a single person or company in a single day).
According to the plea agreement, Stancil Enterprises sold multiple planes for cash in 2008 and 2009, to purchasers whom they believed to be Mexican, involving deposited cash they believed to be from illegal narcotics trafficking. The company and its agents knew that the buyers were structuring cash into the Stancil Enterprises account in increments of less than $10,000 in order to avoid federal cash transaction reporting requirements.
The company and its agents tracked deposits by these purchasers, requiring them to alert Stancil Enterprises of the deposits and which plane sales the deposits related to. Often the purchasers faxed cash deposit tickets to Stancil Enterprises as proof to ensure credit for the payment. They made deposits in such a way that the banks could not connect the transactions to a specific buyer or plane, and could not identify the individuals making the deposits or purchasing the planes, and therefore could not make a Currency Transaction Report for large cash transactions.
United States Attorney Benjamin Wagner noted that Stancil Enterprises lost not just its profit but its investment in the planes. Wagner stated: “Selling to criminal elements and helping them conceal their cash is a losing proposition. Stancil Enterprises lost the planes to its customers and lost all of the payments for those planes through forfeiture to the United States, and put its employees and officers at risk of very significant time in prison. These crimes matter – doing business with drug dealers, from Mexico or anywhere else, enables these criminals to engage in dangerous criminal activity. We urge all businesses to review their own cash accounting practices and ensure that any suspicious cash transactions are reported according to the law.â€
http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/story/Placerville-airline-dealer-plead…
Skywagons.Com, LLC was formally established in 1989, specializing in the sale of used single engine Cessna type aircraft. Its Founder, Joe Stancil Jr. who has bought and sold over 1900 aircraft in that time has sold the business to his long time employee of 17 years, Mark Pilkington. Mark will continue the tried and tested tradition of the business, and customers past and future will not see any difference in the quality and service they have come to expect. Skywagons.com will still very much specialize in the Cessna 180, 185, 206, 182 types, but will also sell other aircraft to create a varied and desirable inventory. The new company will also offer a comprehensive brokerage service to private aircraft owners wishing to sell their aircraft. We are very familiar with international sales and can assist in the export paperwork and physical shipping of any aircraft to any part of the world.
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