Statue of limitations Re: Medical issuance
 

Is there a statue of limitations regarding how far back the FAA can prosecute or deny a application for a medical application for falsifying information such as a misdemeanor or felony conviction?

There are two totally separate issues here...

There is a criminal law regarding falsifying an FAA form. This is a federal offense, with possible fines and prison time associated. Most crimes (except murder) have statutes of limitation. Not sure what it would be, but I would guess 5-7 years for something like that? Best to research it and find out for sure.

As far as FAA regs, those are admin law and I doubt there is any statute on that. I know that once the FAA starts an investigation, they must complete it one way or the other in a timely manner. This is not law, but rather NTSB legal precedent...they effectively require a "speedy trial". But I suspect there are no limitations which would protect your medical and pilot certs from revocation if a serious past omission came to light.

Better see a lawyer if your question is not academic in nature.

FAA can deny or revoke all certificates for falsification at any time, including pilot, instructor, medical, and mechanic certificates. If one feels the need to come clean, one should do so after consulting with and possibly through a competent aviation lawyer, and definitely before the FAA discovers the falsification.

I agree with the others:

Revocation or denial - any time. Arguably the 6-month "stale complaint" deadline comes into play (FAA needs to start a certificate action within 6 months of a violation) but that only starts when the FAA finds out about the violation.

Criminal prosecution - It comes under the general "false statements to the government" statute - 18 U.S.C. §1001. It's not used that often - usually reserved for things the FAA thinks a serious enough to send it to the US Attorney rather than keep in-house.

Coming clean - talk to a lawyer before you talk to the government, but generally, the FAA learning about it from the airman (or the airman's legal representative) is better than the FAA learning about it from somewhere else.