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 ARVADA, Colo. -- An Arvada woman said she's facing a $500 fine from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after she saved a free apple she received from an airline on her way home from Paris. 
 
 Crystal Tadlock said toward the end of her flight, attendants passed out apples in plastic bags. 
 
 She wasn't hungry at the time so she threw the snack in her bag and planned to eat it during the second leg of her trip back to Denver. 
 
 Tadlock said when she went through customs, her bag was randomly searched. 
 
 She said the customs agent pulled out the apple in the plastic bag with Delta's logo on it. 
 
 Tadlock said she had just received the snack from the airline and asked if she could throw it out or eat it. She said the agent said no, and handed her a $500 fine instead. 
 
 "He had asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said, 'Yeah.' I didn’t really get why he was asking that question, and then he said 'It’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500,'" Tadlock said. 
 
 Tadlock said she's frustrated that an innocent mistake could amount to a large fine and the loss of her Global Entry Status. 
 
 Tadlock said Delta shouldn't have passed out apples to customers or at least reminded passengers not to take the fruit off the plane. 
 
 She also said she's frustrated that customs would ticket her when the agent clearly saw the snack came from an airline. 
 
 "It’s really unfortunate someone has to go through that and be treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit," Tadlock said. 
 
 "We encourage our customers to follow U.S. Customs and Border Protection protocols," a Delta spokesman said. 
 
 "Privacy policy prohibits CBP from discussing the details of any individuals specific inspection, however all agriculture items must be declared," U.S. Customs and Border Control said in a statement. 
 
 Tadlock can pay the $500 or fight the charge in court. She said she plans to fight the ticket in front of a judge. ||||| (Meredith/KDVR/CNN) – A Colorado woman says the U.S. Customs and Border Protection wants to fine her $500 for a free apple she received from an airline on her way home from Paris. 
 
 “The violation is for one apple,” Crystal Tadlock told KDVR. “It’s unfortunate someone has to go through that and be treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit.” 
 
 She received the apple from a Delta airline employee, but she wasn’t hungry at the time, so she put it in her carry-on bag. When she went through customs, she said her bag was randomly searched and the customs agent pulled out the apple. 
 
 “He asked me if my trip to France was expensive. I said, ‘Yeah.’ I didn’t really get why he was asking that question. And then he said it’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500.” 
 
 She’s frustrated, not only because of the fine, but because she said Delta didn’t inform her that this could happen. She says the airline shouldn’t hand out apples, or at the very least, warn passengers not to take them off the plane. 
 
 Delta released a statement about the incident, saying: “We encourage our customers to follow U.S. Customs and Border Protection Protocols.” 
 
 A spokesperson with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection also released a similar statement: “Privacy policy prohibits U.S. Customs and Border Patrol from discussing details of any individual’s specific inspection, however, all agriculture items must be declared.” 
 
 “I understand the laws and that the Department of Agriculture doesn’t want certain insects in the U.S.,” she told KDVR. “But once again, the apple is from Delta and I think that’s the most important part of this story.”
– Crystal Tadlock may think twice before accepting anything from a Delta attendant again. Flying back from Paris, the Colorado woman accepted a free apple handed out by an attendant and stuffed it in her carry-on bag—only to discover at customs that the fruit would cost her $500, KDVR reports. The customs agent "asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said, 'yeah,'" said Tadlock after her bag was randomly searched. "I didn’t really get why he was asking that question, and then he said 'It’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500.'" She asked if she could toss the apple or eat it, but the agent said no. "It’s really unfortunate someone has to go through that and be treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit," says Tadlock, who also lost her Global Entry Status. She blames Delta for handing out the fruit without warning, and says Customs should have cut her a break. Customs and Border Patrol responded by saying that "all agriculture items must be declared," and a Delta spokesperson said "we encourage our customers to follow US Customs and Border Protection protocols." For her part, Tadlock plans to fight the fine in court. "I understand the laws," she says, per KPTV. "But once again, the apple is from Delta and I think that’s the most important part of this story."