Prison Term for Aviation Distributors’ Former CEO

Aviation Distributors Inc.’s former chief executive was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to falsifying the financial records of the supplier of commercial aircraft parts.

Osamah S. Bakhit, who resigned as chairman, chief executive and president of the company in 1997, was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. He pleaded guilty in February to 18 counts including securities fraud and conspiracy.

Prosecutors claim that Bakhit, a Mission Viejo resident, fraudulently inflated Aviation Distributors revenue by $1 million when it filed for its initial public offering in March 1997.

The 1.4-million-share sale on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market raised almost $7 million for the Lake Forest company.

Arthur Andersen had acted as Aviation Distributors’ auditor and resigned in August 1997 after it learned of problems with the information that was being provided by the company.

Aviation Distributors and Bakhit’s attorney couldn’t be reached for comment.

Shares of Aviation Distributors were delisted from over-the-counter trading in April.