Font ResizeA United Airlines mechanic accused of sneaking a loaded handgun into a secure area of San Francisco International Airport pleaded no contest Thursday to two felonies, meaning she will face no more than two years in prison.
Traci Timothy Bracken, 55, had been looking at as many as eight years in prison over two charges: a possession of an illegal weapon count stemming from the February incident at SFO and an assault charge following a fight at a Pacifica bar.
Bracken, who lives in Pacifica, allegedly brought a handgun into the United maintenance facility where she works. Police later searched Bracken's home and found an illegal AR-15 assault rifle, according to prosecutors.
Airport security personnel allegedly found the handgun in her backpack. Security guards were looking for brass knuckles that Bracken had brought to work a few days earlier and used to punch a cardboard box, according to her defense attorney, Randall Knox.
"She was upset over the way a co-worker was treating her — making comments for being transgender, making fun of her and being mean and spiteful — and she was venting," Knox said in April.
At the time, Bracken was already facing the assault charge on suspicion of attacking a parole officer with a knife last year in a Pacifica bar.
Prosecutors have downplayed the seriousness of the incident at SFO.
"We didn't have an explosive situation by any stretch," Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo
Airport spokesman Mike McCarron said Bracken never had access to the airfield at SFO.
