Pilot Impersonator Sentenced Again for L.A. Airport Thefts

Edward Forrest Ingram, who posed as an airline pilot to charm women and steal luggage at Los Angeles International Airport, pleaded no contest Thursday to one count of grand theft and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Ingram had been convicted twice before, in 1993 and 1996, for theft at LAX. Both times, he posed as a pilot.

“He knows the drill,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Don Tamura said. “He’s spent more time in custody over the last 15 years than out.”

The 42-year-old serial impersonator, who authorities say has used 14 identities over the last dozen years, was arrested Oct. 26 after giving away items allegedly stolen from LAX baggage carousels.

Authorities said he took suitcases and walked past baggage checkers unquestioned while dressed in a makeshift pilot’s outfit, sporting fake Delta Air Lines identification and carrying letters written on phony Federal Aviation Administration letterheads commending his valor as a fighter pilot. LAX officials say, however, that he did not gain access to restricted areas such as the airfield or under passenger ramps.

When police raided Ingram’s Venice apartment, they found about 250 items, including five sets of golf clubs, pieces of Tumi luggage valued at $500 to $700 each, jewelry, leather jackets and camcorders.

Ingram kept elaborate records of the items he sold on the online auction service EBay, police said. His girlfriend even modeled the clothes for pictures that appeared on the site.

“She said she thought they were gifts [Ingram received] and that he was a business guy and pilot,” Tamura said, adding that the girlfriend was not implicated.

Police were tipped off after the pilot donated piles of clothes to the Trade City Production Studio in Santa Monica. The couple who own the small theater found among the items a card with a woman’s phone number; they called her and discovered that the items had been stolen, police said.

Before his ruse was uncovered, Ingram participated in the theater’s open mike night, where he spun tales of his life as a fighter pilot battling Iraqi forces, tales so moving that a producer in the audience suggested that he turn his experiences into a play. He also signed up to participate the following week, leaving his real name and address at the theater.

Since 1978, Ingram has been arrested in Las Vegas and a number of California cities for making threatening phone calls, burglary, using stolen credit cards--even stealing a private plane in Santa Clara.

Ingram also used his identity as a pilot to pick up women. Police said they found a stack of women’s business cards in his apartment and interviewed several who expressed disappointment that Ingram never called.

“He told his girlfriend he was an FBI informant,” said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Nick Sinabaldi, surmising that this could be Ingram’s future impersonation. “We haven’t seen the last of him.”