Federal charges: Palmer man who almost caused midair collision said he was ‘free citizen’ who didn’t need pilot license, registration

A longtime Palmer pilot told federal inspectors that he is a “free citizen” who doesn’t need a government-issued pilot license or aircraft registration, according to prosecutors who have now filed aviation-related criminal charges against him.

On July 18, William Marsan was arrested in Palmer and jailed on federal charges of operating a plane without a license, operating an unregistered aircraft and operating a plane displaying a false registration mark. Each of the three charges could bring up to three years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential fines if he is found guilty. The government is also trying to seize his plane, a single prop Piper Cherokee, through a forfeiture process.

Marsan and his wife owned and operated a commercial aviation business, Sound Aviation, for decades, according to their website. Marsan, who is 56, has no other criminal record in Alaska.

According to court filings, Marsan ascribes to beliefs connected to the sovereign citizens movement — a far-right ideology whose adherents say they are not subject to the United States government’s authority, and whose members often employ perceived loopholes to try evading laws around everything from taxes to driver’s licenses.

Courts have repeatedly ruled against sovereign citizen legal arguments.

During a hearing in a federal courtroom in Anchorage on Tuesday, Marsan repeatedly disputed basic procedural steps.

“I object to these proceedings,” Marsan said, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit and leg chains. “I am not a U.S. citizen. I am a member of the public as an American State Citizen.”

Marsan declined legal representation from a defense attorney, opting instead to represent himself as the case moves forward and disputing that U.S. laws apply to him.

“I don’t consider myself the defendant,” he told Magistrate Judge Scott A. Oravec. “I’m a living man. I don’t belong here.”

In Marsan’s case, the government contends, the pilot dispensed with a legally required license and registration.

In 2020, the charges say, Marsan failed to renew a medical certificate required to fly. In June 2022, he sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration asking to cancel his airplane’s registration. He continued to fly without a license or plane registration, prosecutors say.

A year later in June 2023, the charges contend, Marsan took off from the Palmer Municipal Airport without announcing his plans by radio, and against the flow of traffic — nearly causing a midair collision with a plane trying to land, according to the charges.

In July of that year, an FAA aviation safety inspector talked to Marsan about the near-miss.

“The defendant refused, stating that he was a ‘free citizen’ and did not need a pilot or medical certificate, and adding that his aircraft had been deregistered,” the charges say.

In place of the usual registration stickers on his plane, Marsan’s plane bore a sticker that is a common symbol of the sovereign citizens movement — a U.S. flag featuring vertical red and white stripes and blue stars against a white background. Marsan also has two “Z” stickers on the plane, sometimes seen on illegitimate license plates used by sovereign citizens.

Asked about his plea, Marsan responded that, “Nothing stands between me, myself, and the creator. I am innocent.”

“I am going to proceed as if you entered a not-guilty plea,” Oravec said after a brief pause.

Marsan was jailed at the Anchorage Correctional Complex ahead of his arraignment, but Oravec ordered his release Tuesday under the conditions that he surrender his passport and not operate an aircraft.