Man Caught With Weapons at Airport Is Sentenced
A man caught with an assault rifle, knives, handcuffs and ammunition at Los Angeles International Airport pleaded guilty in a West Los Angeles courtroom Monday and was sentenced to nine months in jail and placed on five years’ probation.
The sentencing of Mark Laurence Kulp, 35, marked the end of a controversy that began after LAX authorities failed to arrest him Sept. 2 for bringing the weapons and other items to the airport in suitcases.
A 9-millimeter assault rifle was found in one of the bags, along with a shotgun and the handcuffs and ammunition, according to a report the prosecutor cited.
LAX officials, who confiscated the weapons but let Kulp take his flight home to Minnesota, claimed state law prevented them from arresting Kulp because they didn’t see him place the bags on an airport X-ray machine.
Kulp did not deny that the items were his. He was later arrested on a warrant in Minnesota, where he had been accused of threatening police officers in Polk County.
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