A Marine veteran and federal air marshal has been accused of scamming $70,000 worth of flights by faking military deployments.
Dior Jay-Jarett, 29, used his job as an airline baggage handler to snag 130 flights after claiming military leave, according to prosecutors.
They claim the alleged scheme allowed him to jet first class to the likes of London, Las Vegas and Dublin, as well as travel standard class to Mexico and the Caribbean.
Prosecutors claim The New York City native then bragged on Facebook about a trip to Cabo San Lucas at the airline’s expense.
‘Out of the 13 countries I have visited this year so far, this has been my favorite solo trip,’ a post apparently from his Facebook account reads.
Jay-Jarett finagled the flights and time off work by showing the airline fake deployment documents signed by a retired military official, according to a newly unsealed criminal complaint.
The filing states that Jay-Jarrett conducted the scam between 2021 and 2024, first starting just a week after he completed his baggage handling training with the unnamed airline.
Jay-Jarett was on active duty with the US Marine Corps from December 2013 until November 2022, when he was medically retired at the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Marine veteran and federal air marshal Dior Jay-Jarett, 29, has been accused of scamming $70,000 worth of flights by faking military deployments
Prosecutors say this Facebook post shows Jay-Jarett bragging about a trip to Mexico which was taken after he made up a fake military deployment
However, he failed to inform his employers about his retirement, prosecutors claim.
‘By remaining on supposed long-term military leave at Airline-1, Jay-Jarett remained entitled to travel benefits including the ability to take unlimited, free flights on Airline-1, alongside ticketed family members or travel companions,’ the complaint reads.
During his time with the airline, he also picked up work as as a Loss Prevention Lead at a sporting goods store and US air marshal while on military leave from his airline position.
‘I believe Jay-Jarrett may have maintained an extended military leave at Retailer-1 in order to benefit from the store’s employee discount,’ Special Agent Aaron Greenberg said.
‘Because Jay-Jarrett continuously worked multiple, fulltime, and higher-paying jobs between 2021 and the present, I believe he never intended to actually begin work as a baggage handler at Airline-1.’
Greenberg asserts that Jay-Jarett also used his expired military status and work as a federal air marshal to jump the line and carry a handgun through airport security.
He allegedly became worried after he was stopped by a TSA agent who expressed concern.
‘Later that day, Jay-Jarett texted his girlfriend that “I think I just walked into a trap,” explaining that he had been asked to provide Airline-1 with the paperwork he had completed,’ the complaint states.
ay-Jarett, 29, used his job as an airline baggage handler to snag 130 flights to places including Mexico (pictured) after claiming military leave, according to prosecutors
They claim the alleged scheme allowed him to jet first class to the likes of London , Las Vegas and Dublin, as well as travel standard class to Mexico and the Caribbean among others. Pictured: An image taken from a post where the accused bragged about one such trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
‘I understand these messages to indicate, in sum and substance, that Jay-Jarett feared that any subsequent Airline-1 investigation would inevitably discover that Jay-Jarett was actually working fulltime as a Federal Air Marshal and was not in fact deployed with the Marine Corps or eligible for military leave from Airline-1.’
The complaint also details how the accused allegedly became evasive when his girlfriend sent him text messages questioning the excessive air travel.
Jay-Jarett admitted to failing to notify the airline he had retired and to falsifying military records, the complaint states.
He is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.