Lodi-area skydiving instructor sentenced to two years in prison for falsifying diplomas

A Lodi skydiving instructor convicted of fraudulently using a colleague’s qualifications to teach the risky sport was sentenced Monday to 24 months in federal prison, followed by an additional 36 months of supervised release in Sacramento federal court .

Robert Allen Pooley’s qualifications were suspended when he approved a tandem jump by Yong Kwon, 25, and Tyler Turner, 18, in 2016, both of whom died after Kwon had problems with the main and reserve and both crashed to the ground.

Pooley was convicted of two counts of wire fraud in cases centered on his use of letters signed by another instructor, Yuri Garmashov, that were used to certify student training, including Pooley’s training of Kwon to lead tandem jumps. He appealed the verdict, and on Monday his lawyer said she would also appeal his conviction. A jury conviction on a third count, aggravated identity theft, had already been thrown out by U.S. District Court Judge William Shubb.

Prosecutors have not charged Pooley with any aspect of the deaths of the two jumpers. An investigation by The Sacramento Bee showed that at least 28 people have died in incidents at the Lodi Parachute Center since 1985. Pooley did not own the facility and he has not been charged in any of the deaths , one of which was a suicide.

In imposing the sentence, Shubb rejected arguments from Pooley’s attorney, federal public defender Mia Crager, that the deaths of Turner and Kwon should be disregarded. Instead, he ruled that Turner’s parents could submit victim impact statements demonstrating the harm and trauma caused by their son’s death. He also ruled that although the case did not involve the question of liability for the deaths, Pooley’s sentence could be extended under a provision of the law that defines the ways in which fraud can involve people at risk to be injured or killed.

In seeking a shorter sentence for his client, Crager argued that Pooley, 49, had already suffered the loss of his career and had been on probation since being released on bond a day after his 2021 arrest. She said he tried to make amends to students who were charged for training courses he was not legally authorized to sign by negotiating lower rates with other instructors.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Lydon, who prosecuted the case, argued for a longer sentence, 27 months, saying Pooley’s fraud led people — including Kwon and Turner — to take risks they would not have taken otherwise.

Prosecutors accused Pooley of defrauding students while he taught tandem skydiving classes at the Parachute Center in 2016. Pooley had his credentials on hold and was not supposed to certify students on his own. He normally taught with Yuri Garmashov, another instructor, who signed off on the training. But when Garmashov left the country for a few months, Pooley used documents pre-filled with Garmashov’s signature. Prosecutors argued that this was done without Garmashov’s permission and was intended to mislead students.

Kwon, an experienced skydiver who reportedly believed he was allowed to lead tandem jumps with newcomers to the sport like Turner, was not legally certified despite taking Pooley’s course and receiving falsely signed credentials with Garmashov’s name, prosecutors argued. Neither he nor the center’s founder, William Dause, have been charged with a crime.

While skydiving that day in Acampo, Turner was going on a special adventure with his mother and friends Casey Nelson and Mario Muniz, one last celebration of their high school years before heading off to college.

Turner’s mother, Francine Salazar Turner, addressed the court tearfully remembering the day her son died. Flanked by Nelson and Muniz, childhood best friends who would become his roommates at UC Merced, she said her son was gifted, working hard to overcome many health problems, including cerebral palsy.

“My heart was broken into a million pieces,” she said, recalling the horror of her son’s death one day in August. “Rob Pooley, as a direct result of your selfish and reckless choices, my son is dead.”

Turner’s father, Todd Turner, said his son had a 4.3 grade point average and was scheduled to attend UC Merced on a full scholarship. He was kind and empathetic, and in high school, Tyler persuaded two of his close friends not to kill themselves, Todd Turner said.

“I hope this haunts him every day and every night for the rest of his life,” he told the judge, referring to Pooley.

“May God have mercy on your soul,” Todd Turner continued. “But may the court have no mercy on you.”