A program specialist with the Federal Air Marshal Service is at the center of a criminal investigation by the U. S. Attorney’s office in San Diego into allegations that the men and women who are the first line of defense against skyjackings and terrorist attacks had their schedules manipulated in order to arrange, of all things, sexual trysts. In the process, they may have left some of the most sensitive flights without marshals on board.
According to the Center for Investigative Reporting, the investigation started in December 2013, when air marshal Roy Duron and his then-fiancee, Lisa Wilkins, an inspector with the Transportation Security Administration, alerted the air marshal service that they had received a number of harassing emails and phone calls from Michelle D’Antonio, a flight coordinator for the air marshal service based in Herndon, Virginia. It turned out that D’Antonio and Duron had been lovers for four years. In a 4.5 hour chat on Facebook, D’Antonio–using the pseudonym “Roy Duron’s Other EGirlfriend”–told Wilkins that she had a number of naked pictures of Duron. Fearing for their safety, Duron and Wilkins sought restraining orders against D’Antonio a month later in San Diego County Superior Court. A judge threw out Duron’s request and awarded attorney’s fees to D’Antonio, saying that Duron hadn’t proven that D’Antonio wasn’t a threat. Wilkins–now Lisa Duron–had her request thrown out as well. Unlike her now-husband, however, it was dismissed without prejudice because she couldn’t submit evidence from the TSA’s internal investigation.
That internal probe has revealed things that are at least as disturbing as the alleged email and phone harassment. D’Antonio’s primary responsibility was to coordinate missed, delayed and canceled flights. This gave her access to very sensitive government databases. According to several current and former TSA employees, D’Antonio used the information in those databases to look up air marshals she was interested in dating. She also reportedly changed flight schedules so other marshals could meet for sexual hook-ups as well, or at least get better routes or travel to a particular city. In the process, D’Antonio may have left a number of flights that were considered particularly risky for skyjacking or terrorist attacks unprotected. The air marshal service makes it a priority to have a marshal aboard long-haul flights that need a lot of fuel or flights that have important passengers aboard.
More than 60 current and former employees are now under the microscope. At least one head has already rolled. Kelly Shutts, another program specialist with the air marshal service, resigned last year. The central figures in this saga, D’Antonio and Roy Duron, are both on administrative leave. While neither the TSA nor the U. S. Attorney in San Diego will confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, it looks like the probe is ramping up. Lisa Duron revealed that her husband was ordered to a TSA office in San Diego on February 13, and was told not to talk about what was discussed with anyone–not even her.
Sonya Hightower, a retired marshal who now works for the Air Marshals Association, thinks that all the talk about “layers of security at the airport” rings hollow when there don’t seem to be any “layers of accountability” to prevent incidents like this. That’s an understatement. If this is even half true–and it sure looks like it is–this woman played a despicable game with the security of our skies. And all in the name of helping her colleagues get a little satisfaction. When I first saw this on MSNBC via a post on Lawrence O’Donnell’s Facebook feed, I immediately thought about a close friend of mine at church who’s a flight attendant for American Airlines. D’Antonio’s little stunt may have put her, other flight attendants and flight crews around the country in undue danger. For that reason, I hope D’Antonio and anyone else who helped coordinate this stunt end up in jail for as long as legally possible.
