The recently discharged Marine–whose duffel bag containing three military artillery fuses and a less-lethal grenade sting ball spurred evacuations, a grounded plane and delayed flights at John Wayne Airport in August–pleaded guilty to felony charges Friday.
Gregory Thomas Salyer was then placed on three years probation and entered into a court program for veterans.
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Gregory Thomas Salyer, Discharged Marine, Faces 8 Years for Drugs, Artillery in JWA Bags
The Lexington, Kentucky, 23-year-old pleaded guilty to placing a destructive device in checked baggage, possession of a controlled substance, receiving stolen property and carrying a dirk or dagger.
A TSA screener discovered his green military duffel bag had a non-lethal sting ball grenade, two military electric artillery time fuses (used on military artillery rounds), a military fuse assembly and a butterfly knife, while more than 300 steroid pills and more than 10 Adderall pills were in his carry-on, authorities said at the time.
Without the guilty plea, Salyer was looking at the possibility of up to eight years in state prison. He'd recently been discharged as a corporal field artillery cannoneer with Battery G, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, out of Twentynine Palms.
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