Pilots Cleared of Smuggling Charges

A federal judge on Thursday acquitted two Salvadoran airline pilots on charges of attempting to smuggle a cache of firearms to El Salvador.

Overturning a jury verdict that convicted the two men, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Gadbois Jr. agreed with defense lawyers that the evidence did not support the verdict.

Francisco Jerez, 31, and Francisco Panameno, 28, both pilots for TACA International Airlines, were charged with conspiracy, attempted export of unlicensed munitions and furnishing false identification in connection with their attempt to take seven .9 mm pistols and a .12 gauge shotgun aboard a midnight flight from Los Angeles International Airport to El Salvador.

Customs officials said they found guns in bags traced to the two pilots. But Panameno’s lawyer, Mario E. Diaz, said the two men had purchased the guns legally for their own protection, and had declared them to airline operations officials about an hour before the flight. When they learned that the guns could not be exported without a special permit, they asked flight attendants to take the guns back to their hotel, Diaz said.