Sentencing for Hansen Helicopters and its owner John Walker has again been postponed by the Federal District Court in Guam. Sentencing was originally scheduled for December, then delayed until April, and is now indeterminant. Hansen and Walker were found guilty in September 2022 on dozens of counts related to conspiracy; defrauding the FAA and the NTSB; bribery; aircraft parts fraud, causing serious bodily injury and death; falsification of aircraft registration; employing unlicensed mechanics and pilots; wire fraud; and money laundering. Walker, who had been free on $1 million bail since his initial arrest in 2018, was taken into custody pending sentencing. He potentially faces life imprisonment. Other defendants, including Hansen’s vice president, chief pilot, and director of maintenance, will be tried separately later.
Walker purchased Hansen, based in Harmon, Guam, in 1998 after working for the company as a pilot, mechanic, and director of operations. He then grew the company to a fleet of 48 helicopters. The company provided fish spotting helicopters, mainly vintage Hughes 369/OH-6A models, along with pilots and mechanics, to tuna boats in the Western Pacific on contracts that ran $40,000 per month per helicopter, with gross receipts of over $20 million annually.
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