Southern Air Transport

SAT explicitly flew twice-weekly Hong Kong-to-Rickenbacker cargo flights for The Limited Inc. Edmund James (James & Donohew Development Services) stated at 03/16/1995 press conference: 'much of the Hong Kong-to-Rickenbacker cargo will be for The Limited.' SAT President William Langton and Governor Voinovich attended. Ohio offered $6M low-interest loan, $500K grant, $10.2M ODOT certificates, $30M revenue bonds, 100% tax abatement for 15 years.

Ohio SoS confirms SAT registered as foreign corporation in Ohio on 08/17/1995 (entity 914641, from FL), surrendered 01/23/1998 and simultaneously re-registered as Nevada foreign corp (entity FC5219, still ACTIVE today). Agent: CT Corporation System, Columbus OH. Re-domiciliation from FL to NV provides stronger corporate privacy.

SAT bankruptcy confirmed: Case 2:98-bk-59460, S.D. Ohio Bankruptcy, filed Oct 1 1998 (7 days before CIA IG Iran-Contra cocaine report released Oct 8). Case not terminated until Feb 2013 — 15 years. 20+ adversary proceedings including SAT v. Bastian (2:00-ap-02283, trustee suing SAT president James Bastian). Other adversary parties: Panalpina (Swiss freight, later convicted FCPA), Atlas Air, USASMDC (US Army Space & Missile Defense Command), AASANA (Bolivian civil aviation), Infraero (Brazilian airport authority), Eurocontrol. SAT had active Latin American and European operations.

SYNTHESIS: SEC filings confirm The Limited's 1995 credit agreement contained Unrestricted Subsidiary carve-outs for entities 'exclusively in the business of owning or leasing aircraft' and 'primarily as a carrier transporting goods.' Web research confirms SAT was explicitly contracted to fly cargo for The Limited. The credit agreement mechanism (private designation notice to agent) means any SAT-related subsidiary would never appear in public filings. Zero aviation entities appear in any Exhibit 21 from FY1994-FY2005. Ohio SoS shows zero Limited-connected entities at Rickenbacker. The Unrestricted Subsidiary mechanism was structurally capable of hiding an aviation relationship but no direct evidence proves designation occurred.

CIA IG Vol II (Oct 1998) confirms SAT was in DEA database from Jan 1985-Sep 1990 for alleged cocaine trafficking involvement. Feb 1991 DEA cable reported SAT 'of record' for alleged involvement in cocaine trafficking. Aug 1990 DEA entry alleged USD 2 million delivered to firm business sites and several pilots/executives suspected of smuggling narcotics currency. Jan 1987 ADCI Robert Gates memo to State Dept confirmed Customs investigating SAT crew drug trafficking allegations sourced from senior FDN official

SOURCING CAVEAT for SAT-Epstein LittleSis relationship: The entry (relationship ID 2033659) was added/updated on Dec 22, 2025 — just 3 days after The American Conservative published 'Epstein, Israel, and the CIA: How The Iran-Contra Planes Landed at Les Wexner Base' on Dec 19, 2025. The relationship has NO details: no dates, no amount, no goods, no description beyond 'did/do business.' This appears to be a crowdsourced entry based on recent journalism rather than primary documentation. Downgrading confidence from medium to low. The journalistic claim itself cites 'Franklin County Sheriff/Ohio IG investigators' as source — those primary records would need to be obtained to verify.

LittleSis SAT-Epstein relationship (ID 2033659) sourced exclusively from Dropsite News Dec 2025 article. Entry created Dec 22 2025, 3 days post-publication. Article cites testimonial evidence via Franklin County Sheriff Earl Smith and Ohio IG David Sturtz relayed through journalist Bob Fitrakis. Zero primary documents (no contracts, emails, financial records). Sourcing chain: journalism←law enforcement testimony←unknown original source. Assessment: tertiary sourcing insufficient for confirmed relationship.

LittleSis records a direct BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP between Southern Air Transport (CIA proprietary airline 1960-1973, Iran-Contra arms transporter) and Jeffrey Epstein. SAT Entity 345808 has 9 mapped relationships: CIA (owner 1960-73), Epstein (business), USAID (business), Frederick C. Moor Jr (founder), Stanley G. Williams (COO/owner), Mary Jean Bastian (employee), William Cooper (pilot killed 1986 Nicaragua shootdown). First database confirmation of SAT-Epstein connection. Requires verification of LittleSis sourcing.

NEGATIVE FINDING: Complete absence of federal prosecution records for 1996 cocaine discovery on SAT plane at Rickenbacker Airport, Columbus OH. Searched CourtListener (federal + state courts), entire Epstein corpus (600K+ docs), and GDELT. Zero records of prosecution. This is investigatively significant: a reported seizure of cocaine from a CIA-linked airline's cargo at a US airport that produces no federal court records suggests the matter was either (a) not prosecuted, (b) handled at state level and not in PACER/RECAP, (c) sealed or expunged, or (d) suppressed. Follow-up: Ohio state court records, DEA FOIA, Franklin County records.

Primary source documentation of SAT as CIA infrastructure. Church Committee (1976): SAT was CIA proprietary airline, incorporated FL Oct 31 1949, 'technically a separate entity' but 'actually an integral part' of CIA air operations alongside Air America. Walsh Report (1993): SAT was used for transport of $2.7M cash (97 separate transfers) from SAT Miami to Enterprise contra-resupply operation in Central America. SAT paid for C-7 and C-123 aircraft via Corporate Air Services. FBI sought to interview SAT personnel and obtain records. Payments from Swiss Enterprise accounts to SAT.

SAT FAA fleet identified: 7 core aircraft registered to Southern Air Transport Inc, PO Box 52-4093 Miami International Airport. Fleet was primarily Lockheed C-130 Hercules military cargo variants + one Boeing 707-369C cargo. 'SJ' suffix = 'Southern Jet' callsign. Last action dates cluster 1996-1998 (consistent with bankruptcy). Also found: Pan-Southern Air Transport Inc (Dallas TX) with Douglas DC-3A deregistered 1998, and Southern Air Inc (Norwalk CT, acquired by Oak Hill Capital 2007) — corporate successor operating Boeing 747 freighters on military CRAF contracts, bankrupt 2012. Modern 'Southern Air Transport Services LLC' (Dover DE, 2022) operates a single Cessna 180H — no operational connection.

The American Conservative Dec 19 2025 article cites Franklin County Sheriff and Ohio IG investigators as sources for Epstein's pivotal role in SAT relocation, but these are journalist sources (Bob Fitrakis), not primary government records. Fitrakis's published archives (Columbus Alive 1998-1999) do not contain SAT-Epstein documentation.