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Desmond Herring, 48, of Newburgh, NY made a beeline for his gate when a TSA officer staffing the checkpoint X-ray monitor found the loaded weapon -- along with boxes of ammo -- in his carry-on bag on Nov. 29, 2021, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said.
Port Authority police collected the bag and examined its contents, the TSA said at the time.
Along with the 9mm pistol were 10 rounds loaded into a magazine, along with another 150 rounds, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Herring was prohibited from having a firearm following a 2010 federal conviction for drug dealing, Sellinger said.
A TSA supervisor and officer followed Herring, who grabbed his other belongings and tipped away in an effort to still make it aboard his scheduled flight to Atlanta, GA, the agency said.
They kept an eye on him, making sure that he didn't interact with anyone or try to hand off or leave anything else. Port Authority police grabbed Herring and returned him to the checkpoint.
Herring, who records show has a drug-related criminal history in New York State, was charged with multiple weapons offenses and possession of stolen property.
Rather than risk the outcome of a trial, Herring pleaded guilty on Thursday, April 7 via videoconference with a federal judge in Newark to one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon and one count of carrying a weapon on an aircraft, Sellinger said.
U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi scheduled sentencing for Aug. 17, 2022.
Sellinger, meanwhile credited special agents of the FBI, officers of the Port Authority Police Department, and TSA officers for the investigation leading to Thursday’s guilty plea, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin of his National Security Unit in Newark.
“This individual knew he had a loaded gun with him and realized that he would be questioned by police, so he tried to distance himself from the carry-on bag and its contents by walking away,” said Thomas Carter, the TSA's federal security director for New Jersey.
“This was a very good catch on the part of our TSA officers," Carter said. "Not only did TSA prevent a deadly weapon from getting on board an aircraft. [We] we aided law enforcement in getting a dangerous individual off of the street.”
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