Rapper Plies arrested at Tampa airport after gun found in carry-on bag

TAMPA, Fla. — Rapper Plies was arrested at a Florida airport Wednesday after authorities said a gun was found in his carry-on bag, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

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Plies, whose real name is Algernod Lanier Washington, was arrested at Tampa International Airport. Washington, 42, was going through a security checkpoint around noon Wednesday when a Transportation Security Administration agent saw what looked like a firearm inside his black-colored backpack as it went through the X-ray machine, airport police Chief Charlie Vazquez said.

Airport police found an unloaded Glock model 43 and a loaded magazine in another section of the backpack, WTVT reported.

Washington, 42, is from Wesley Chapel, a Tampa suburb. He told police he bought the gun at a pawn shop and it was registered to him, the television station reported. However, he did not own a concealed weapons permit, according to his arrest affidavit. He likely would not have been arrested if he had one, Vazquez told the Times, even though carrying a weapon into an airport terminal violates Florida law.

Washington was arrested for unlicensed carrying of a concealed weapon. He was released from the Hillsborough County Jail after posting a $2,000 bail.

Washington, who was born in Fort Myers, began his music career after playing college football at Miami University of Ohio in 1996 and 1997. His first album, “The Real Testament,” was released in 2007. His hits include “Becky” and “Bust It Baby Pt. 2.”

Cox Media Group