A Lakeland man, Abraham Othman Yacoub, 26, has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for attempting to smuggle a loaded firearm onto a flight at Tampa International Airport on August 4, 2023. Yacoub pleaded guilty to the charges in April 2024.
Court records reveal that Yacoub attempted to bypass TSA security with the firearm concealed in his backpack.
When the firearm was detected by x-ray, Yacoub removed it and hid it in a restroom trash can, later claiming to TSA agents he had no firearm. The discovery of the gun, a Glock 19 with 14 rounds of ammunition, caused the terminal to be evacuated and flights to be delayed.
This is Yacoub’s second offense involving a firearm at a Florida airport. In 2020, he was found guilty of carrying a concealed firearm at a Miami-Dade County airport.
In addition to the prison sentence, Yacoub has agreed to forfeit the firearm and ammunition seized during the incident.