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Tampa Man Sentenced For Trying To Bring Knife Onto Plane

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 29, 2009

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• Plea Agreement

Raul Mata

TAMPA - A 45-year-old Tampa man was sentenced today to six months in a halfway house and five years probation for trying to bring a hunting knife onto an airplane.

Raul Gambe Mata admitted in a plea agreement that he brought a knife with a six-inch blade in his carry-on bag when he attempted to board Delta flight 5634 from Tampa to Cincinnati on July 29.

Transportation Security Administration employee Victoria Alex saw the knife as she watched Mata's bag pass through the security X-ray machine, according to Mata's plea agreement. When interviewed later by airport police, Mata said the knife was his and he knew it was in his bag.

Mata was going to fly to a new home and a new construction job, said his public defender, Howard Anderson. Mata had shipped other belongings to his new home, but just threw the knife in his bag at the last minute, Anderson said. The knife had been payment for work Mata had done on someone's home, Anderson said.

"He just was rushing to get somewhere," the lawyer said. Anderson described the defendant as someone who makes bad decisions, but did not intend to harm anyone. "I don't believe he truly thought anything through," Anderson said.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge James Moody said Mata has 10 prior convictions for minor offenses, such as having an open container of alcohol. Following the sentencing hearing, Mata was taken into custody on a warrant for having an open container of alcohol.

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