A former California skydiving instructor who trained more than 100 skydivers after his instructor certification was suspended is headed to prison. Robert Pooley of Acampo obtained ratings as a "tandem examiner" with the US Parachute Association (USPA) and United Parachute Technologies (UPT) in 2010 but had his certification suspended five years later, per SFGate. Despite that, the 49-year-old went on to train more than 100 students in tandem instructor rating courses at a cost of $1,100 each, using the digital signature of another certified instructor who "was not even in the country," prosecutors say.
"Pooley falsely told students that he was a tandem examiner, led them to believe they could obtain USPA and UPT tandem ratings through his courses, hid the fact that he had been suspended, and helped students fill out USPA and UPT rating paperwork to further the impression that the students would legitimately get their tandem ratings through his courses," prosecutors say. Among his trainees was Yong Kwon, a 25-year-old who'd recently relocated from South Korea. He and first-time skydiver Tyler Turner, 18, died in a tandem jump in 2016, when Kwon failed to open the main or reserve parachutes, per SFGate.
The deaths occurred at Lodi Parachute Center in San Joaquin County, where Pooley did much of his work, per CBS News. The place has seen at least 28 deaths since 1985. Pooley hasn't been charged in the deaths. He was convicted of two counts of wire fraud related to unauthorized tandem skydiving courses in May and sentenced Monday to two years in prison, plus three years of supervised release, per the Sacramento Bee. Pooley has appealed the verdict and his lawyer said Monday that he would also appeal the sentence. Turner's father told the court he hopes his son's death "haunts him every day and every night for the rest of his life." (More skydiving stories.)
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