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Jailed WWII Fighter Ace To Be Sentenced Dec. 4

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By BILLY TOWNSEND | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2007

Updated: 10/22/2007 11:19 am

BARTOW - Abner Aust, an 86-year-old retired Air Force colonel and certified fighter ace, will be sentenced on Dec. 4 for a probation violation that could keep him in prison an additional 15 years.

The date was set at a hearing today at the Polk County Courthouse by Judge Randall McDonald.

Aust's attorney, Byron Hileman, said his client will not contest whether a violation occurred but will ask for leniency based on mitigating circumstances, Aust's age and military record.

Aust has been incarcerated since 2000, when he was convicted of solicitation of arson in the would-be torching of his ex-wife's house near Bartow. In 2002, he was convicted of solicitation of murder while in prison. In the latter case, he offered to pay a convict or his brother to kill his ex-wife, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say the second conviction violated the probation of his first conviction. He had been returned to Polk County to answer for that charge.

Aust flew P-51 Mustangs and jet fighters during a 30-year career that started with five confirmed kills of Japanese aircraft during World War II and ended with command of a major tactical fighter wing during the Vietnam War.

Here's a much fuller look at Aust's story, published in the Tribune last week.

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