Man Slipped Past TSA at Philadelphia Airport Using Illicit Employee Badge
- David Easley was attempting to smuggle six bottles of a prescription cough syrup which can be sold on the black market for thousands of dollars as an illegal drug called 'Lean.'
A man who completely bypassed the TSA security checkpoint at Philadelphia International Airport by using an employee ID badge to swipe himself into a hidden corridor that took him ‘airside’ has been sentenced after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.
David Easley, 39, from Georgia, had faced the threat of spending up to 10 years in a federal prison, but last week, U.S. District Judge Gail A. Weilheime sentenced Easley to two months of home confinement, plus 26 months of supervised release for evading airport security requirements.
Man busted by TSA by chance following a random security check
Easley was arrested on March 9, 2024, after he was randomly stopped by TSA agents carrying out checks to make sure there wasn’t unauthorized access to what is known as the secure ‘airside’ part of Philadelphia Airport (the part of the airport after the TSA checkpoint).
The TSA agents had stationed themselves at the exit of a secret employee corridor that leads between the check-in hall and the departures concourse. Employees have to use a special ID pass and entry code to access the corridor, which allows them to go airside without going through the TSA checkpoint.
Easley was due to catch a flight from PHL to Atlanta, Georgia, but by using the employee corridor, he skipped the standard TSA security checks that all passengers have to undergo.
After spotting the TSA agents at the exit to the corridor, Easley did a runner but was quickly chased down and detained. Easley attempted to convince the TSA agents that he was running late for a flight and had paid an employee $50 to let him skip the TSA checkpoint so he could catch his plane.
Investigators found evidence of a conspiracy with an airport worker
It didn’t take long, however, for the TSA to unravel this story and conclude that Easley had conspired with an airport employee to deliberately bypass the security checkpoint so that he could smuggle a prescription medicine called promethazine on the plane.
Promethazine contains codeine, and while it can be legitimately prescribed to treat various issues like nausea and allergies, there is a huge illegal market for the syrup, which, when sold for recreational use, is known as ‘Lean’ or ‘Purple Drank.’
Easley had been stopped with a red Wawa bag in his possession, which contained six bottles of promethazine. Experts suggest that this amount of Lean could be worth several thousand dollars on the black market
Along with Easley, the TSA also stopped the employee whose badge had been used to facilitate Easley’s illegal bypassing of the security checkpoint. A review of cellphone data revealed that Easley had been plotting with the employee since January 2024.
Suspect has an extensive criminal history
Easley has been well known to law enforcement since he was a juvenile. Back in 2007, he pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine. Just two years later, Easley was sent to prison for assaulting a police officer.
Then, in 2023, Easley pleaded guilty to terroristic threats and possession of an instrument of crime after pointing a gun at another person during an argument.
No jail sentence and just two months of home confinement
Despite his extensive criminal history, Easley escaped a possible maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and was sentenced to 26 months of supervised release, which includes two months of home detention.
In submitting its sentencing memorandum to the court, prosecutors concluded that “review of his prior criminal history shows that a non-custodial sentence will not act to deter this defendant.”
The document continued: “Easley’s post-plea conduct suggests he is unconcerned and unrepentant about his federal crime.”
Prosecutors also asked the court to consider a custodial sentence in an attempt to dissuade copycat offenses.
Other incidents at Philadelphia Airport
In July, a man was ordered to pay American Airlines nearly $60,000 in restitution after breaching a secure entry point at PHL and jumping on a plane without going through TSA screening.
Jonathan ‘Jon’ Beaulieu, 32, of Philadelphia, caused a major security alert as police officers frantically searched for him within the ‘sterile’ area of the airport.
Court documents revealed how Beaulieu first tried to bribe a security officer at an exit control point to let him into the airside part of Terminal C. When he was denied entry, Beaulieu simply walked past the security officer and onto an American Airlines plane.
Because he had not been security screened, the aircraft had to be deplaned, and a security sweep carried out, which resulted in an expensive delay to the flight.
Bottom line
David Easley has escaped a potential jail sentence after pleading guilty to deliberately evading the TSA security checkpoint at Philadelphia International Airport.
Prosecutors obtained evidence that showed Easley had colluded with an airport employee to illegally use an ID badge to gain access to a secure employee corridor so that he could smuggle a controlled drug into the airport.
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