Bail denied for accused flight stowaway

A federal judge in California denied bail Friday for the man authorities said thwarted layers of security at Kennedy Airport by using a boarding pass that carried someone else's name to take a flight to Los Angeles.

Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, 24, facing a felony stowaway charge, did not enter a plea at the appearance in federal court in Los Angeles. His next court date is scheduled for July 13, said Gymeka Williams, a Justice Department spokeswoman.

Noibi is a U.S. citizen who also holds a Nigerian passport, the FBI said Thursday, a day after he was taken into custody.

On June 24 aboard Virgin America Flight 415, Noibi was questioned by a flight attendant after the crew noticed he was in a seat that was supposed to be empty.

He produced a boarding pass dated June 23 and, when asked to produce identification, he showed a University of Michigan photo ID card. When the flight landed at Los Angeles International Airport, authorities questioned Noibi and released him.

Wednesday, he tried to board a flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta but was rebuffed at the gate by a Delta Air Lines agent because his boarding pass was dated for the preceding day, according to the affidavit of an FBI agent who questioned Noibi.

FBI agents and agents with U.S. Custom and Border Enforcement obtained consent to search Noibi's luggage and found 10 boarding passes for various names, court records state.

The case prompted Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, to call for a full investigation by the Transportation Security Administration.

King, in a letter to TSA Administrator John Pistole, said he is "gravely concerned" about the security breach at Kennedy. He urged the TSA to audit its travel-document screeners and brief the committee by July 8.

"Nearly 10 years after Sept. 11, failures of this kind should be a thing of the distant past," King wrote.

The TSA said the agency "will respond directly to the congressman and looks forward to continuing our strong working partnership."

On Thursday, the TSA issued a statement saying that agents who failed to pick up on use of the invalid boarding pass could be subject to discipline and, at a minimum, receive remedial training.

On websites, Noibi listed himself as president of Unleash Media, which is identified as a media consultant to Fortune 500 companies with clients in Africa, Europe and North America.

Ifeoluw Kehinde, 25, of Chicago, is listed on a webpage for Unleash Media Llc, of Willowbrook, Ill., as managing partner. But Friday in a telephone conversation, Kehinde said Noibi should never have listed his name on the company website.

The company bills itself as specialists in "Kingdom identity and Ministry branding."

"It's just someone that I used to see around," Kehinde said of Noibi. "I haven't seen him for over a year. It was kind of like he was a relative of one of my friends."

Kehinde said Noibi is "mischievous by default" and a person with big ideas whose ambition didn't always meet with success.

Kehinde said he is a consultant for Dyvintel Llc, which also is mentioned on Noibi's websites. It's a software company in Willowbrook, Ill.

Also Friday, a family in Illinois issued a statement to "address the nature of our relationship with him." Referring to Noibi as "Seun Noibi," the family said it was introduced to him through his aunt when Noibi was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan.

Noibi stopped residing with the family in late 2010, the statement said. "We are as surprised as everyone at these recent developments," the statement said.