You are in a hurry, rushing to make your flight on time for your trip. You get to the security screening at Austin Bergstrom International Airport and forgot that your concealed-carry handgun is in your bag. Alarms go off, and people start to swarm. While this often happens, it is a very serious situation that can have long-term affects on you, your job and your future.
Good people make mistakes by forgetting to take items out of their luggage when they head to the airport for a trip. When this happens, you are facing both serious criminal charges for Carrying a Weapon in a Prohibited Place – A Third Degree Felony and an administrative penalties and fines from the Transportation Security Administration - TSA. A Third Degree Felony in Texas has a range of punishment of 2-10 years in prison and a fine of $10,000. The TSA action against you for this situation has a fine with the maximum amount of nearly $14,000 that you would owe.
When you face this situation, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney to safely escort you through the process and work to safeguard your future. Jason English was a former prosecutor for 15 years, who now represents good people facing criminal charges including Carrying a Weapon in a Prohibited Place.
TSA will send you a Notice of Violation Packet. The Notice of Violation is the initiation of a civil monetary penalty action against you for a violation of a security requirement. If you don't respond to it, the matter may be referred to the U.S. Department of Treasury or the U.S. Department of Justice. So make sure that you contact us, and send the NOV Packet to our office. We will need that information so that we can fill out the Notice of Violation Options Sheet and request an Informal Conference (Option 4). From there a TSA Attorney will work with our office for a settlement of the fines under 49 CFR 1503. If you have already paid the fine from TSA for the violation, please forward such to our office.
We have a game plan ready for you and your future if you find yourself in this situation. Our goal is to get the underlying criminal charges dismissed and reduce the fines that you will pay to the TSA. Schedule a free consultation today to talk with an attorney about your case.
If your case is from an incident that occurred outside of Texas, we would not be able to assist you. However, we would refer you to someone else. Click here if your case occurred outside of Texas.
