The Justice Department announced Friday that a former aviation sales manager pleaded guilty in a foreign bribery case involving government aircraft contracts in Latin America, more than 14 years after federal prosecutors first charged him.
Jald Jensen, 73, formerly of Van Nuys, California, returned to the United States following his extradition from Panama in September. He worked as a regional sales manager for Tulsa-based BizJet International Sales and Support Inc., a subsidiary of Germany’s Lufthansa Technik AG.
Between 2004 and 2010, Jensen and other BizJet executives arranged bribes for government officials who held influence over aircraft maintenance and repair contracts in Mexico and Panama, according to federal prosecutors.
BizJet served government aviation operations associated with the Mexican president, Mexico’s federal police, the governor of Sinaloa, and the Panama Aviation Authority.
Prosecutors said Jensen and his co-conspirators funneled payments through U.S. bank accounts and Avionica International & Associates Inc., a shell company Jensen controlled. A federal indictment identified Jensen as a naturalized U.S. citizen.
More Than A Decade Of Federal Prosecution
BizJet entered a deferred prosecution agreement in 2012 and paid an $11.8 million criminal penalty. The agreement acknowledged the company’s voluntary disclosure, cooperation, and remedial efforts.
Three former executives also pleaded guilty: President and CEO Bernd Kowalewski, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Peter DuBois, and Vice President of Finance Neal Uhl. Prosecutors brought charges against Jensen in 2012, and authorities secured his extradition in September 2026.
Jensen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits certain corrupt payments to foreign officials to obtain or retain business. He faces up to five years in prison. A federal judge will determine his sentence in 2027.
North Texas Aviation Company Paid $14 Million
A separate federal bribery case involved Dallas Airmotive Inc., an aircraft engine maintenance company based in Grapevine.
In December 2014, Dallas Airmotive admitted violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and agreed to pay a $14 million criminal penalty to resolve charges that it bribed government officials in Latin America to secure contracts, the Justice Department announced.
According to the company’s admissions, its conduct between 2008 and 2012 involved officials in Brazil, Peru, and Argentina. The company used front companies affiliated with foreign officials, payments to third-party representatives, and benefits including paid vacations.
The FBI’s Dallas Field Office investigated the Dallas Airmotive case. Federal prosecutors pursued the two companies in separate proceedings. Their combined corporate criminal penalties totaled $25.8 million.
Justice Department Announces Final Plea
Jensen’s guilty plea marks the final conviction among the four former BizJet executives, according to Friday’s Justice Department release.
“This defendant and his co-conspirators put profits above ethics and fair competition,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in the release.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the BizJet case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs secured Jensen’s arrest and extradition from Panama.
