Wasilla man sentenced for phony air service scam

WASILLA — A 48-year-old Wasilla man was sentenced on Friday to four years in prison for defrauding 38 victims out of an estimated $8,000.

According to the Alaska State Troopers, Kenneth Wayne Jenks ran a phone scam that targeted local businesses. Jenks pretended to be with a fake flight service called “Alaska Air Adventures Service” and used several aliases to ask to borrow money from victims. He was arrested in August, 2015.

Troopers announced the sentence Wednesday in an online dispatch. Authorities first became aware of the scam in April of 2015 and launched a joint investigation between troopers in the Mat-Su Valley and Kenai Peninsula, as well as the Anchorage Police Department and the Office of Special Prosecutions in Anchorage.

Along with the jail time, Jenks was also ordered to pay restitution to his victims.