In San Antonio today, 26-year-old Jordan Jericho Bautista Gunter was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for illegally carrying a firearm on an aircraft announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr.; Special Agent in Charge Kendall Whittington, Transportation Security Administration Office of Investigations, Dallas Field Division; and, Special Agent in Charge Fred Milanowski, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Houston Division.
On May 11, 2016, the Pflugerville, TX, resident pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and one count of carrying a weapon on an aircraft. By pleading guilty, Gunter admitted that on January 10, 2016, he possessed a firearm in Pearsall, TX. At that time, Gunter was federally prohibited from doing so due to a 2011 criminal conviction in Maryland for possession of a concealed deadly weapon. Gunter also admitted that on March 9, 2015, he boarded a flight at the San Antonio International Airport while in possession of a firearm after claiming to TSA authorities that he was a law enforcement officer with the additional required training to carry a firearm on an airplane. Information provided in court at sentencing revealed that Gunter boarded not one, but multiple commercial flights, while transporting an actual prisoner as he pretended to be a law enforcement officer.
Gunter has remained in federal custody since his arrest in February 2016.
This investigation was conducted by the Transportation Security Administration Office of Investigations, Dallas Field Division together with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the United States Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bettina Richardson prosecuted this case for the government.