Eric D. Lawrence

Detroit Free Press

A Michigan Appeals Court judge is facing a criminal investigation after a loaded handgun was found in his carry-on bag at Detroit Metro Airport on Sunday.

State Administrative Office spokesman John Nevin confirmed that the case is against Henry William Saad of Bloomfield Hills, who was appointed to the court in 1994. Nevin said there has been no change in Saad’s status with the court.

Saad, a former partner at the Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen and Freeman law firm, has a term that expires in 2021, according to information from the court website. He has a permit to carry.

He was scheduled to fly to Ft. Myers, Fla., when Transportation Security Administration personnel spotted a weapon while scanning his bag about 8:30 a.m. Sunday at the North Terminal, said airport spokesman Michael Conway. Saad was released after airport police processed his case.

Conway said the case represents a violation of an airport ordinance that prohibits trying to take a gun through a passenger-screening checkpoint. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing the case, which would be the latest involving a prominent official caught with a weapon at the airport.

Loaded gun found in woman's carry-on at Metro Airport

Anthony Adams, a former deputy Detroit mayor under Kwame Kilpatrick, was spared a jail sentence after he admitted having a loaded handgun in his briefcase while preparing to take a flight to Philadelphia. Adams was ordered to pay $475 in fees but could have faced up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine on the misdemeanor charge of possessing a weapon in a sterile area of the airport.

Former Detroit Police Chief Jerry Oliver faced a similar situation in 2003, when a loaded handgun was found in his luggage. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of possessing an unlicensed handgun and was fined $250.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com or on Twitter @_ericdlawrence. Staff writer Gina Damron contributed to this report.

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