Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty for Role in Airline Baggage Scam, Faces up to 5 Years in Prison

Published February 18, 2022

Louisiana – A Louisiana man has pleaded guilty for his role in an airline baggage scam and now faces up to 5 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Donmonick Martin, age 30, of Chalmette, Louisiana, pled guilty on February 9, 2022, to Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.

Martin, according to court documents, conspired to defraud commercial airlines by submitting false claims for reimbursement for lost baggage. Pernell Jones, Jr. (“Jones”), Martin’s co-conspirator, flew to New Orleans under a fictitious identity in January 2021. Shortly after, Martin entered Louis Armstrong International Airport, assumed the same fictitious identity, and falsely informed American Airlines that his bag had been misplaced on the flight. According to court documents, Jones submitted false claims for lost baggage to airlines under false identities four times, and Martin agreed to accept reimbursement funds from the airlines on Jones’s behalf to help Jones avoid detection.

In November 2021, Jones pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349 and Mail Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. Jones is set to be sentenced in February 2022.

Martin faces up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine, up to three years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. Sentencing has been set for May 4, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo.

U.S. Attorney Evans would like to acknowledge the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the City of Dallas Police Department for their assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Carboni is in charge of the prosecution in this case.

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