Man charged with flying without license, making false statements

A convicted drug smuggler from Naylor, Mo., remains in federal custody accused of providing false statements to federal officials in an attempt to obtain pilot credentials and continuing to fly even though his license was revoked.

Rodger Calvin Seratt, 62, has been charged with two felonies of making false statements and two felonies of operating an airplane without a license.

Seratt allegedly made two false statements on an August 2010 application for a FAA airman medical certificate in Dunklin County, one of which concerned felony convictions. Seratt had been convicted of possession of ephedrine in 1995 in Arkansas.

The indictment also alleges that Seratt piloted a plane without a license twice in 2011, once in Stoddard County and once in Butler County.

Seratt surrendered March 1 in Cape Girardeau and had a detention hearing March 7. He was ordered held without bond by Judge Lewis Blanton until Blanton decides if Seratt will be detained until his trial.

Pretrial motions are set for March 30.

If convicted, Seratt faces no more than five years in prison on each false statement charge and no more than three years each for operating without a license.