Georgia Man Pleads Guilty to Evading Security Requirements at Philadelphia International Airport

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that David Easley, 39, of Georgia, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Judge Gail A. Weilheimer to one count of evading airport security.

The defendant was charged by information in May of this year, arising from his use of the identification badge of an airline employee to access a secured, sterile area of Philadelphia International Airport, knowingly and willfully bypassing airport security. Easley has never been employed at the Philadelphia International Airport.

As detailed in court filings and statements, on March 9, 2024, Easley was a ticketed domestic airline passenger, scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Atlanta, Georgia, on a flight departing at 7:05 p.m. At approximately 6:35 p.m., video surveillance captured Easley using an airport Secure Identification Display Area (SIDA) badge belonging to an airport employee, typing a passcode on the keypad, and gaining access through the secure doors leading from the public side of the airport ticketing area to the secure area of the airport.

The defendant entered a restricted area for employees that is between the public, pre-security ticketing area and the public, post-security “sterile” terminal. Easley did not go through TSA screening before entering this secure area.

Easley then used another door to enter the public “sterile” terminal area of the airport, that being the area where screened passengers have access to board their flights. The TSA encountered Easley while conducting random security inspections to prevent prohibited items and unauthorized individuals from accessing the sterile area.

Easley is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28, 2025.

The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Priya De Souza.