A retired United States Marine Corps veteran and Federal Air Marshal is feeling the heat after being accused of orchestrating an elaborate nearly three-year scam that involved lying about his military service to score thousands of dollars in free vacations for himself, family members and friends. Dior Jay-Jarrett of Queens, New York, has been charged with wire fraud, according to a complaint filed on March 19 by the Southern District of New York.
Court documents allege Jay-Jarrett, who served in the Marines from 2013 until he was medically retired in November 2022, “[falsified] military deployment documents to obtain free travel benefits.” His scheme started in October 2021, when he got a job as an airline baggage handler. After one week on the job, Jay-Jarrett asked for eight months leave claiming he was being deployed to Kuwait. The only problem – he wasn’t actually deployed to Kuwait and the documents he shared with his supervisor were signed by a military official who retired in 1997.
The complaint goes on to allege Jay-Jarrett also asked the airline for extended military leave in June 2023 and July 2024, using his military status to take advantage of travel benefits including “unlimited, free flights on Airline-1 alongside ticketed family members or travel companions.”
All in all, the court says he took “at least 130 such flights — and his family and friends approximately 20 more — at a value of nearly $70,000,” including first-class flights to Los Angeles, London and Dublin
But he didn’t stop there: The court’s complaint says that while working for the airline, Jay-Jarrett got a job as a Federal Air Marshal, which they say he used to bypass the airport security line and fly with service weapon.
Although Jay-Jarrett may have thought he had all of the details of his scheme sorted out, he didn’t think his bosses would check his social media. Court documents cited a Facebook post he shared about a free five-day trip to Cabo San Lucas he took in August 2022, which he described as one of his “favorite solo trips” as evidence supporting his bogus military leave.
If he’s found guilty, Jay-Jarrett could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.