Canadian Man Charged with Wire Fraud After Falsely Posing as a Commercial Airline Pilot

HONOLULU – United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that Dallas Pokornik, 33, of Toronto, Canada, was indicted on October 2, 2025, for wire fraud.  Pokornik was arrested in Panama and extradited to the United States.

According to court records, over the course of four years, Pokornik falsely claimed he was an airline pilot and presented a fictitious employee identification card to obtain hundreds of flights at no cost on three different airlines.  During the fraudulent scheme, Pokornik requested a jump seat in the cockpit of the aircraft, even though Pokornik was not a pilot and did not have an airman’s certificate. 

If convicted, Pokornik faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, plus a term of supervised release.

The charges in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.  In the case of conviction, any sentence would be imposed by a United States District Judge based on the statutory sentencing factors and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Nammar is prosecuting the case.