Rogue pilot earned $370,000 illegally flying Katter MPs around Qld; wins appeal
A man jailed for making $370,000 by illegally operating a charter airline used by state and federal MPs has won an appeal against his sentence.
Josh Hoch, 36, operated the Flying Fitters Pty Ltd and Hoch Air Pty Ltd, transporting politicians from Katterās Australian Party around their Queensland electorates over a five-year period.
Hoch was jailed for two years in November 2022 after being found guilty in Townsville District Court of three counts of fraud to the value of $30,000 or more, one count of dishonesty, four of flying an aircraft without a licence and five of operating an aircraft without an air operatorās certificate.
Hoch last month successfully appealed some of his convictions for fraud and dishonesty, which will be the subject of a new trial, and he had another win before Brisbaneās Court of Appeal on Friday.
The court heard that Hochās sentence for fraud in the amount over $30,000 and flying an aircraft as a pilot in command without a licence were āunduly severeā as they did not start at the same time as his sentence for other charges.
Hochās appeal pointed to comments made by the original sentencing judge that his fraud and flying offences were considered part of one sequence of offending.
You might like
The unlicensed piloting offences concerned 96 flights including 61 that were completed on behalf of federal MP Bob Katter.
Mr Katter used Hochās flight charter service through his travel allowance, but was unaware of its lack of authenticity and it was not alleged any of the KAP politicians engaged in any wrongdoing.
Chief Justice Helen Bowskill and Justices Debra Mullins and David North granted Hoch leave to appeal his sentence.
āThe point at which(Hoch) is released from custody must reflect the fact that the overall notional sentence for all the offending must be less without ā¦ the most serious of the fraud offences,ā the justices stated.
Hochās maximum time in prison was reduced by six months and his period of good behaviour after release was reduced from four years to three.
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
