Sixteen Years Ago, Rapper Petey Pablo Tried to Board a 9/11-Anniversary Flight to the Vmas with a Loaded Stolen Gun in His Carry-On and Got 35 Months in Federal Prison
by Nicole Stawiarski · Thought CatalogUpdated 45 minutes ago, September 11, 2026
The pistol had been taken during a 2005 home burglary in Gardena, California. Barrett also had a prior armed robbery conviction that barred him from possessing a firearm.
TSA’s X-ray screening caught the Smith & Wesson 9mm in Moses Barrett III’s bag at Raleigh-Durham International Airport around 6 a.m. on September 11, 2010. Petey Pablo, then 37, was arrested before his US Airways flight to Los Angeles and released later that morning on $50,000 bond.
He told an airport officer he’d forgotten the weapon was in the bag. His representative later said he’d taken it from a friend who planned to “do something crazy,” then accidentally grabbed the luggage for a last-minute trip. That account was never a court finding.
Wake County initially charged him with carrying a concealed weapon, firearm possession by a felon, and possession of a stolen firearm. A federal grand jury indicted him in October 2010 on counts that also included attempting to bring a firearm onto an aircraft.
Barrett pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen firearm on March 16, 2011, avoiding a trial where he faced up to 10 years. Chief U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan imposed the 35-month sentence on September 26.
He entered federal prison on January 4, 2012, and served time at FCI Beckley and FCI Fort Dix. He was released on March 13, 2014, about 4 months before his projected release date, and said he planned to return to the studio and work with Timbaland.
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