NBA Player - No charges for Loaded Gun on Team Plane----In Boston

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Telfair fined after gun found in pillowcase
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Associated Press
Posted: 1 hour ago



PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Trail Blazers fined guard Sebastian Telfair on Wednesday after a loaded gun was found on the team's private jet at Boston's Logan Airport.

The handgun was found in a pillowcase belonging to Telfair as the team plane was being prepared for a flight from Boston to Toronto, the team said in a statement.

A handgun was found in a pillowcase belonging to Sebastian Telfair as the Blazers team plane was being prepared for a flight from Boston to Toronto. (Rocky Widner / Getty Images)

Telfair explained to local authorities that the gun belonged to his girlfriend and that he had inadvertently grabbed the wrong bag when leaving for the team's road trip.

"We did sweep the plane and we did find the handgun, and it was a loaded handgun," said Jennifer Peppin, a regional spokeswoman based in Seattle for the Transportation Security Administration. "Once we got that we turned it over to the state police in Boston."

The gun is registered in Oregon to Samantha Rodriguez, Telfair's girlfriend of five years.

The Trail Blazers left Portland on Feb. 7 for their five-game trip. The team was in Oklahoma City for a game against the Hornets Wednesday night.

The matter was turned over to the Massachusetts Port Authority, which said no charges would be filed.

The team fined Telfair an undisclosed amount for violating league and team policy. The NBA is reviewing the matter.

"While we had to allow the legal process to run its course, and were grateful it appears that the authorities have determined Sebastian initially made an innocent mistake, he clearly compounded the situation by making the wrong choice by not notifying the team's traveling security agent about his situation immediately," Blazers president Steve Patterson said Wednesday.

"He has apologized profusely, but he knows he must be held accountable for his actions."

Do you think the MPA would choose not to file charges, if any of us mere mortals did this ????

 

[shermacman]

The matter was turned over to the Massachusetts Port Authority, which said no charges would be filed.

Tell ya what, I will try to carry a loaded gun onto a plane through Logan this weekend.

I'll let you know how I make out. I will either post it here, or you can all read about my arrest on the front pages of the Herald, Globe and NYT.

 

[spooney]

I think the key words here are "teams private jet." It's not like he tried to bring the gun on American Airlines flight 238 or anything.

 

[Merkin.Muffley]

It's a chartered jet - I don't understand why TSA is on the plane at all. My neighbor has a Learjet, when we fly on it we're not searched when we take-off or when we land. We board at his hanger here, and when I've flown to LA with him we get off at his hanger there. Do they search private planes if they're using the boarding ramps? I'll have to ask my neighbor, he's in Long Beach for another week.

 

[neoncowboy]

If the TSA ever tries to look in an airplane I am in command of, they'll be told to pound sand.

This is on the team's private plane! Granted, it's in Boston...which in itself is a huge anti-gun city.

I don't know where the TSA gets off inspecting a private plane

 

[JJpdxpinkpistols]

I don't know where the TSA gets off inspecting a private plane

The answer is clear to those of us from Portland: they knew the Blazers were involved, and the hadn't met their arrest quota for the month.

 

[Manedwolf]

If the TSA ever tries to look in an airplane I am in command of, they'll be told to pound sand.

This is on the team's private plane! Granted, it's in Boston...which in itself is a huge anti-gun city.

I don't know where the TSA gets off inspecting a private plane

What serious-VIP-carrying corporate jet wouldn't have armed bodyguards along for the ride? I'd have some!

 

[Fly320s]

Something isn't right here.

A private aircraft that is screened by the TSA? I wonder if the TSA even has the authority to screen a private aircraft. Maybe ICE (customs) was prescreening the aircraft and passengers for entry into Canada. That is a more likely scenario.

Boston's Logan airport does have a general aviation ramp. That is probably where the plane was parked and the passengers boarded. As far as I know, Logan doesn't require aircraft screening for general aviation traffic. Only Washington, D.C. Reagan National requires that level of screening for general aviation.

One more thing... why is a NBA player carrying his own pillowcase?

 

[Standing Wolf]

Well, heck, I carry guns in pillow cases all the time.

 

[NateG]

"The gun is registered in Oregon to Samantha Rodriguez, Telfair's girlfriend of five years."

Does Oregon have handgun registration? I wasn't aware that they did.

 

[CubDriver]

It was a private airplane. There are NO laws that prevent a person from carrying a gun on a private airplane (unless the pilot objects, but then its failing to comply with the direction of a flight crew). I fly while armed all the time, only had an issue with it once while fueling at a larger controlled airport. Fuel buy called 911, and the locals arrived ready to stop a terrorist plot. Fortunately an FAA inspector doing rampchecks (checking an airplanes airworthiness, and pilots legality to fly) told them to go pound sand because they sure as hell weren’t going to listen to me.

 

[Autolycus]

"The gun is registered in Oregon to Samantha Rodriguez, Telfair's girlfriend of five years."

Does Oregon have handgun registration? I wasn't aware that they did.

I believe its just the media trying to increase the "sensationalism" of the story by making it seem like Oregon does and increase the list of potential crimes.

 

[goalie]

Um, guys, the plane was flying to TORONTO. You know, that city in CANADA.

Try and tell customs and everyone else to kiss off when you fly to another country, private jet or not, and come back and tell us how it went.

 

[CubDriver]

Goalie I don’t know about you, but I have flown to Canada before in private aircraft and I have NEVER been screened by the US or Canada on the way out of the US. You are always processed upon arrival in the new Country. All you have to do is call 888 CAN PASS 2 to 48 hours before your estimated arrival time at the airport of entry (AOE). If the customs official isn’t waiting when you arrive you can just continue on your way.

If I had some one demand to search me on the way out, that WOULD NOT be the norm.

Granted he would have been in trouble once he was in Canada with a handgun, but carrying Shotguns or rifles through is no problem, you just need to pay a fee and your on your way. We do this all the time while heading up to Alaska.

 

[WT]

I imagine the Boston inspectors are a little antsy since 2 of the 911 flights originated there.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Um, guys, the plane was flying to TORONTO. You know, that city in CANADA.

Try and tell customs and everyone else to kiss off when you fly to another country, private jet or not, and come back and tell us how it went.

As CubDriver said, you're not searched on the way OUT of the US.

I've flown private aircraft into both Canada and Mexico and no one looks on the way out. You only clear Customs as you enter.

So try another reason, that one doesn't fly.