A Florida man has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for bringing a loaded firearm into a terminal at Tampa International Airport and trying to hide it in a bathroom, prompting an evacuation.
Abraham Othman Yacoub, 26, of Lakeland, pleaded guilty in April to violating airport security requirements and attempted possession of a dangerous weapon on an aircraft, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a statement announcing the sentence on Wednesday.
On Aug. 4, 2023, Yacoub arrived at Tampa International Airport to board a flight to Las Vegas. He placed his backpack, shoes and other items into a Transportation Security Administration bin and proceeded through TSA screening.
During the X-ray scan of Yacoub's items, TSA agents observed a firearm in the backpack. While the agents searched for the bag, Yacoub removed it from the conveyor belt and took it to the nearest men's restroom, where he wrapped the gun in toilet paper and hid it in a trash can.
Upon leaving the restroom and returning to the TSA screening area, he was met by an agent and his backpack was re-screened. When the gun was no longer inside, agents questioned Yacoub, who claimed he had not brought a gun the the airport.
The terminal had to be evacuated, delaying flights, until the firearm was found.
The Tampa Airport Police Department arrived and questioned Yacoub, then searched the restroom. They located a black Glock 19 partially wrapped in toilet paper with 14 nine-millimeter rounds of ammunition inside a magazine loaded into the gun. The gun and ammunition, which Yacoub agreed to forfeit, were seized.
According to prosecutors, this was Yacoub's second time bringing a firearm into a Florida airport. In 2020, Yacoub brought a gun into the TSA screening area at an airport in Miami-Dade County. In that case, Yacoub pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed firearm in 2021.
