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Personal-injury attorney Craig Swapp has been charged with an infraction after being arrested at Salt Lake City International Airport earlier this month for having a handgun in his carry-on luggage.
The single count of possessing a dangerous weapon in an airport secure area was filed last week in Salt Lake City Justice Court. The offense is punishable by a fine of up to $750.
Swapp, best known for his television commercials and "One Call, That's All" slogan, has said he mistakenly left the .38-caliber handgun in his bag on Nov. 17, as he planned to fly from Salt Lake City to Boise, Idaho.
"When they found it in my bag it was as big a surprise to me as it was to them," Swapp said after his arrest. "It was a stupid mistake. I forgot it was even in there. I wouldn't subject myself to that intentionally."
Swapp said he would normally store the weapon in a vault at his Sandy home, and forgot he had the weapon inside his briefcase. Transportation Security Administration officials said the weapon was loaded with six rounds of ammunition.
The Utah code calls for misdemeanor charges if someone intentionally tries to bring a weapon into a secure portion of the airport and infraction if it happens otherwise.
"The mental state is the crucial element here," Salt Lake City prosecutor Scott Fisher said, declining to discuss Swapp's case specifically. "The vast majority of these kinds of cases we see out of the airport are people who have been either criminally negligent or reckless."
The gun was among 24 loaded weapons found at the airport this year, and the seventh found since Oct. 1., TSA officials said.
Swapp, 49, is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 10