College student who stole plane may return to Canada

The local college student who received international attention after stealing a plane from this city and flying it over three U.S. states may return to Canada.

Adam Leon was an aviation student at Confederation College. He was sentenced in Nov. 2009 in a U.S. courtroom to two years in an American prison after pleading guilty to interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft and illegal entry into the U.S.

The charges and sentencing was the result of a seven hour, unauthorized flight in a stolen Confederation College plane from the Thunder Bay International Airport to a rural Missouri town.  

Leon stole the plane and entered U.S. airspace on April 6, 2009.

“Presently our information from (U.S.) Immigration and Custom Enforcements is that Adam Leon is in Pennsylvania and will be released on Dec. 30,” said Thunder Bay RCMP detachment Staff Sgt. Normand Roy.

“He will be handed over to the immigration officials and will have to be brought before an immigration judge to determine his admissibility into the United States.”

Following that hearing, Leon could be deported to Canada.

It is unknown what border crossing Leon will be brought to Canada through, but local authorities are prepared for his return. The Thunder Bay Police Service has a warrant for his arrest for a theft over $5,000 charge.

Before sentencing, an American courtroom heard how the then 31-year-old Leon suffered from depression before he took the plane in April, 2009.

The court also heard how two American F-16 fighter jets accompanied Leon when he entered American airspace. The pilots of those fighter jets attempted to contact Leon and get him to land the plane.

Several hours passed and Leon’s plane was running low on fuel. He landed the College aircraft on a road in a small Missouri town. He parked the plane and hitched a ride to a nearby convenience store where he waited for authorities to arrest him.

When Leon was arrested, it was reported that he told members of the FBI and Missouri State Highway Patrol that his flight was a suicide attempt and that he had hoped the U.S. fighter jets would shoot him down.