David Easley, a 39-year-old man from Georgia, has been sentenced to 26 months of supervised release, with the first two months under home confinement. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Gail A. Weilheimer after Easley pleaded guilty to evading security requirements at Philadelphia International Airport.
According to information presented in court, Easley was charged in May and entered a guilty plea in July for one count of evading airport security. The incident occurred on March 9, 2024, when Easley, who was scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Atlanta as a ticketed passenger, used an identification badge belonging to an airport employee. Surveillance footage showed him using the badge and entering a passcode on a keypad at approximately 6:35 p.m., allowing him access through secure doors from the public ticketing area into a restricted part of the airport.
Easley accessed an employee-only zone located between the pre-security ticketing area and the post-security terminal. He did not go through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening before entering this secure section.
He then proceeded through another door into the public “sterile” terminal area where screened passengers wait to board flights. TSA officers discovered Easley during random security checks intended to prevent unauthorized individuals and prohibited items from entering secured parts of the airport.
United States Attorney David Metcalf stated: "David Easley...was sentenced to 26 months of supervised release, with the first two months on home confinement, by United States District Judge Gail A. Weilheimer for evading security requirements at Philadelphia International Airport."
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Priya De Souza.
