Times Staff Writer
March 7, 2006
The owner of a charter jet company and his associate pleaded guilty
Monday to federal charges of conspiring to secretly videotape pop
singer Michael Jackson when he flew from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara
in 2003 to surrender on child molestation charges.
The guilty pleas by Jeffrey Borer, owner of Santa Monica-based
XtraJet, and Arvell Jett Reeves, owner of Executive Aviation
Logistics, an aircraft maintenance firm in Chino, brought a sudden
end to the government's prosecution of the two men, who had
previously denied any knowledge of the illicit taping.
"The bottom line is that even famous celebrities deserve some level
of privacy in their private communications, especially when they are
meeting with their attorneys," Assistant U.S. Atty. Daniel Shallman
said after the guilty pleas were entered in court.
"These guys went out and tried to make a bundle of money by
attempting to sell these tapes to the tabloids?. It was pure greed."
A federal grand jury had accused Borerr and Reeves of equipping one
of XtraJet's Gulfstream aircrafts with hidden video cameras and
microphones purchased from stores that sold "spy" equipment. The men,
the grand jury charged in a September indictment, hoped to sell the
footage of Jackson to a television network.
The videotapes came to light in November 2003 when Fox News said it
had been approached by a private party about selling tapes of Jackson
aboard the jet with his then-attorney, Mark Geragos. At the time, the
two were en route to Santa Barbara, where Jackson was facing child
molestation charges. He was acquitted in that case early last year.
Originally, Borer said he did not know how the secret recordings were made.
But in the plea agreement accepted Monday by U.S. District Judge A.
Howard Matz, Borer acknowledged telling Reeves to install audio-video
recording equipment on the jet after learning that the entertainer
would be chartering it from Las Vegas.
Borer, the plea agreement said, was to be responsible for contacting
media companies, negotiating with them and selling the recordings to
the highest bidder. Reeves' role was to purchase and install the
recording equipment, the plea agreement added.
The court documents said that Reeves and an unindicted and unnamed
co-conspirator worked into the early morning hours before the
flight's scheduled departure to install the camcorders on the
Gulfstream. They were unable to install the microphones because
Reeves did not buy the right electronic connectors, but they did make
two video recordings of the entertainer, his attorney and others on
the jet, according to the plea agreement.
Five months after the incident, court papers said, Reeves'
co-conspirator told him he had been contacted by the FBI about the
illicit tapes. Reeves concocted a cover story that he had placed the
camcorders inside the aircraft to help disprove Borer's allegation
that he had stolen alcohol from the jet, the papers said.
Borer had unsuccessfully asked to have his brief court appearance
before Matz closed. During the hearing, the two defendants said they
understood the consequences of their guilty pleas.
Borer, whom sources have identified as a onetime FBI informant, and
Reeves each face up to a maximum of five years in federal prison when
they are sentenced in July.
Federal guidelines suggest a sentence of six to 12 months, though the
judge will have the final say on whether to impose jail time.
Additionally, each faces up to three years of supervised release,
fines of $250,000 and potential loss of their FAA licenses.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:26 CST