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Miami resident Claude Jewett was arrested in Florida by federal marshals on Dec. 16 on racketeering charges after allegedly scamming flight school students out of over $250,000 at the Houma Terrebonne Airport. He was extradited into the custody of the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office, and is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.
Jewett and his business partner, Zachary French, allegedly accepted advance payments for flight lessons that were never given and left a string of unpaid debts at the airport.
“It was more than a business that was having trouble and failing,” said Jerry Gonsoulin, owner of an aircraft support company at Houma Terrebonne Airport called Hangar One. “It became very obvious they were perpetrating a scam.”
Johnston Flight School was purchased in November 2008 by Jewett and French, and initially operated legitimately, according to Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Maj. Malcolm Wolfe. Once the business went into a tailspin, the company continued to take money from students, but stopped giving lessons.
Several local businessmen said the company also stopped paying many of their bills for fuel, aircraft leases and hangar space, and then abruptly left town. It was unclear whether or not bad debt was included in the racketeering charge against Jewett, said Wolfe, although it is the only charge he is currently being held on.
After business in Terrebonne went south, the company moved to Monroe and left a similar trail of complaints, said Wolfe. Sheriff’s detectives believe the scam netted more than 25 students, and cost some victims as much as $60,000.
The alleged fraud has left a sour taste in the mouth of the airport community and cost the area a once-reputable flight school.
Russell Redmond owns two companies that dealt with Jewett and French: Hangar One and Cajun Helo LLC. Johnston Flight School had contracts with Redmond, which he extended to the new owners.
“Things started to go bad about June to July of this year,” said Redmond. “I was hoping it was all going to work out, you know? They were just carrying the scam further, it turned out.”
Charlie Hammonds, owner of Hammonds Flight School said, “It’s just a mishmash of bad decisions and having trusted people that let you down. Whatever they get, they deserve if they’re going to be stealing people’s money.”
Hammonds never rented any equipment to the company, and lost no money. Gonsoulin, on the other hand, estimated that Hangar One alone lost about $16,000 to fraud.
“The sad thing is those guys were taking money from students, and they knew they didn’t have any aircraft because no one would rent them aircraft any more,” said Gonsoulin.
Butler Aviation also lost money to the failed operation, said owner, Bobby Butler.
“They were paying for a little while and then they gave us a bad check and left,” said Butler. “They just pulled up and disappeared overnight.”
According to Hammonds, students need to be careful when picking out a flight school.
“There’s a large percentage of flight schools that actually go broke. Deal with people that have been around for a long time. That’s the best and safest way to do it because they have a track record,” said Hammonds. “If you make a decision to go with somebody who’s a new upstart, which these people were, then maybe you didn’t do your homework.”
Houma area flight school students were scammed out of over $250,000 by Miami resident Claude Jewett. * File photo
