Alaska pilot fights $95K plane forfeiture over beer cases in Supreme Court

An 82-year-old Alaskan bush pilot is trying to win his battle over a $95,000 plane and a few cans of beer. US Supreme CourtAccording to his lawyers.

with the help of Institution of justiceKenneth Jouppi is appealing an Alaska Supreme Court decision that upheld the seizure of his plane, a sentence he says violates the Constitution’s protections against him, according to a release shared on the organization’s website. higher fines.

On April 3, 2012, Juppy, an Air Force veteran and owner of KenAir LLC, was set to fly a passenger and her groceries from Fairbanks to Beaver, a small remote Alaskan town about 110 miles north.

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Kenneth Joupi unwittingly transported alcohol to a dry Alaskan village and is now appealing to the US Supreme Court. (Kenneth Joupy/Institute for Justice)

“Though hidden in the passenger’s luggage, three cases of beer, two Budweisers and a Bud Light, were given as gifts to her husband, who worked in Beaver as the local postmaster,” the Institute for Justice release said.

Before Juppy took off, Alaska state troopers searched the plane and found the beer. Jouppi insisted he knew nothing about it, but prosecutors accused him of knowingly transporting alcohol to a dry village.

Beaver voted in 2004 Liquor import ban. Jouppi was convicted, fined $1,500 and sentenced to three days in jail, the statutory minimum penalty.

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The Justice Institute is helping Kenneth Juppy petition the US Supreme Court. (Kenneth Joupy/Institute for Justice)

According to court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital, prosecutors seized Jouppi’s Cessna U206D plane, valued at approximately $95,000, under Alaska Statute 04.16.220(a)(3)(C), which mandates the forfeiture of vehicles used to illegally transport alcohol.

Lower courts initially sided with Jouppi, finding that confiscation of entire aircraft in beer cases was excessive.

But, in 2024, the Alaska Supreme Court overturned this decision. The justices acknowledged that forfeiture is a form of punishment under the Eighth Amendment but ruled that it is not grossly disproportionate to the crime.

In June 2025, Juppy filed a petition with the US Supreme Court.

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US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, June 24, 2025. .

According to the Institute for Justice, Juppy’s case is not about manned aircraft, but about keeping the American people safe from them. Higher financial penalties imposed by the government.

“Kane is not giving up this fight. Instead, he has partnered with the Institute for Justice to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and explain why unconstitutionally excessive penalties are necessary,” a spokeswoman said.

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“In an era where enforcement agencies (in the words of the Supreme Court) ‘rely heavily on fines and fees as a source of general revenue,’ it is important that the Court strengthen the Bill of Rights’ vigilance clause in a way that will better protect ordinary people across the country.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Institute for Justice for further comment.