TYLER, Texas (AP) - A Texas pilot who survived a 2012 Gulf of Mexico crash and videotaped his time in the water must serve more than five years in prison and repay nearly $1 million for insurance-related fraud.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Monday that Theodore Robert Wright III must report to prison Nov. 8.
Wright last December pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to commit arson. He was sentenced Oct. 4 in Tyler. Three co-conspirators received prison or probation for the scam to buy planes, boats and cars, then destroy the vehicles for insurance.
Wright in October 2012 appeared on NBC’s “Today” show to describe the crash off Louisiana during a flight from Baytown, Texas, to Sarasota, Florida.
He’s a native of Port Kent, New York.
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