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Man who embarassed government officials in
charge of airport security
could have been sent to prison for 20 years; instead given probation
BALTIMORE, Maryland - United States Attorney for the District of
Maryland Thomas M. DiBiagio announced that today U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Nathaniel
Travis Heatwole, age 20, of Damascus, Maryland to 2 years of supervised
probation and 100 hours of community service, arising from Heatwole’s guilty plea to an
Information charging him with entering an airport area in violation of security
requirements. Magistrate Judge Grimm also
ordered Heatwole to pay a fine of $500 and to reimburse his parents up to $500 for actual
legal expenses incurred for his defense in this proceeding. Finally, as a special condition of his probation, Magistrate Judge Grimm ordered that Heatwole may not fly on
commercial airlines without permission
of the court.
According to the statement of facts presented to the court
as part of his April 23, 2004 plea agreement, on September 14, 2003 Heatwole knowingly
entered the security screening check point area at Baltimore Washington International
Airport (BWI) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland with one or more of the following
prohibited items in his possession: box cutter razor blades, strike-anywhere matches and
liquid bleach.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation sponsored Joint Terrorism Task Forces of Maryland and North Carolina, the
Transportation Security Administration and the United States Attorney’s Office, and
was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Harvey E. Eisenberg.
