Former State Police aviation tech receives no jail time for falsifying portion of inspection on VSP Abingdon helicopter

A former Virginia State Police aviation tech who admitted to falsifying a portion of an inspection of a VSP helicopter at the agency’s Abingdon base received no jail time from a federal judge.

Court records we obtained show US Attorneys recommended the sentence for Michael W. Smith who pleaded guilty in December to one count of making false writings or documents related to the exam conducted in April 2019.

Prosecutors said Smith, 55, traveled to Abingdon and had forgotten to bring a special tool that tests the strength of an air conditioner belt that could have resulted in a crash if not properly conducted.

Smith instead marked the belt inspection as completed in a maintenance log and then told his superiors that he only tested the item by grabbing it with his hand.

The inspector was suspended then eventually fired from the state police, the documents said.

(GRAPHIC: SuperTalk Archives)