Ex-united pilot again is accused of internet stalking

A former United Airlines pilot who served time in federal prison for posting online nude photos and videos of a flight attendant he previously dated has again been charged with stalking her.

Mark Joseph Uhlenbrock, 66, of suburban St. Louis, was indicted this week by a federal grand jury in San Antonio on one count of internet stalking.

Uhlenbrock is accused of using the internet to cause “substantial emotional distress” to the woman from May through September, though the indictment doesn’t provide any details on his alleged acts. He has been in federal custody since his arrest Dec. 10 in Missouri.

Federal prosecutors want Uhlenbrock detained until his trial, citing “the safety of any other person or the community.” They also deem him a serious flight risk.

“We’re just asking that the investigation be thorough, and we’re hoping that nobody rushes to judgment,” said Shannon W. Locke, Uhlenbrock’s San Antonio attorney.

In 2016, Uhlenbrock was sentenced to 41 months after pleading guilty to stalking the San Antonio woman. It was revealed at sentencing that he had two previous indecent exposure convictions elsewhere in 2004 and 2006, a conviction for third-degree assault and one for drunken driving. He apparently was allowed to continue flying.

Court records show that after being released from prison, Uhlenbrock was arrested again in early 2019 for violating terms of

his supervised release. He was sentenced to six months in prison.

Uhlenbrock was released from prison in August 2019 but was still under three years of supervised release when he was taken into custody in December.

United Airlines removed Uhlenbrock from the cockpit in late 2015 after his arrest by the FBI. He retired in lieu of termination in 2016. He had been with the airline for more than 30 years. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the Chicago-based airline in 2018 in San Antonio over Uhlenbrock’s conduct.

The agency said United failed to protect the flight attendant from harassment and a hostile work environment.

United agreed in late 2019 to pay the woman, identified in the EEOC’S suit as Jane Doe, $321,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to settle the complaint.

The woman dated Uhlenbrock for about five years beginning in 2002 and allowed him to take nude photos and videos of her, court documents in the first criminal case indicated. He also took video of her sunbathing without permission.

Uhlenbrock posted the photos and videos to swinger and pornographic sites

without permission. The woman broke off their relationship after learning about the internet postings.

The EEOC alleged United failed to prevent and correct Uhlenbrock’s behavior, even after the flight attendant made numerous complaints and provided substantial evidence of his conduct to the airline. She first complained in 2011.

United said it concluded that Uhlenbrock’s conduct stemmed from a “private consensual relationship.”

The flight attendant also sued Uhlenbrock in state District Court in San Antonio. That litigation was settled for $110,000, records show.