U.S. tourist faces 12 years in prison after taking ammunition to Turks and Caicos

An Oklahoma man faces as much as 12 years in jail on a Caribbean island after customs officers discovered ammunition in his baggage.

Ryan Watson traveled to Turks and Caicos along with his spouse, Valerie, to have a good time his fortieth birthday on April 7. They went with two pals who had additionally turned 40.

The holiday got here to an abrupt finish when airport workers members discovered a zip-close bag containing bullets within the couple’s carry-on baggage. Watson stated it was searching ammunition he had by chance introduced with him — however below a strict regulation in Turks and Caicos, a court docket should still impose a compulsory 12-year sentence.

“They have been searching ammunition rounds that I take advantage of for whitetail deer,” Watson instructed NBC Boston in an interview carried out final week that aired after their first court docket look Tuesday.

“I acknowledged them, and I believed, ‘Oh, man, what a bonehead mistake that I had no concept that these have been in there,'” he stated.

The couple have been arrested and charged with possession of ammunition. Authorities seized their passports and defined the penalties they confronted.

Valerie Watson stated within the interview: “After I heard that, I instantly was terrified, as a result of I used to be like we won’t each be in jail for 12 years. We have now children at dwelling, and that is such an harmless mistake.”

The costs in opposition to her have been dropped, and he or she returned dwelling to Oklahoma Metropolis on Tuesday after the court docket listening to to be reunited along with her two younger kids.

“Our aim is to get Ryan dwelling, as a result of we will’t be a household with out Dad,” she stated.

The couple additionally spoke in regards to the monetary burden of a a lot longer-than-planned journey. “That is one thing that we might by no means get well from,” Ryan Watson stated.

The U.S. Embassy within the Bahamas issued a warning to vacationers in September a few regulation that strongly prohibits possession of firearms or ammunition in Turks and Caicos, an abroad British territory southeast of the Bahamas that may be a widespread trip spot.

It stated: “We want to remind all vacationers that declaring a weapon in your baggage with an airline service doesn’t grant permission to deliver the weapon into TCI [Turks and Caicos Islands] and can lead to your arrest.”

The embassy added: “In case you deliver a firearm or ammunition into TCI, we will be unable to safe your launch from custody.”

The embassy and the federal government in Turks and Caicos didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

The identical factor occurred to a different American, Bryan Hagerich, of Pennsylvania, who was arrested after ammunition was present in his baggage earlier than he tried to board a flight out of Turks and Caicos in February. He stated he by chance left it in his bag.

Hagerich was on a household trip along with his spouse and two younger kids however has now been within the nation for 70 days. He spent eight days in jail earlier than he posted bail.

“It’s extremely scary. You already know, you simply don’t know what the following day might deliver — you recognize, what path this will likely take,” Hagerich instructed NBC Boston.

“You already know, it’s actually so much totally different than packing your luggage and going away with your loved ones for just a few days. It’s been the worst 70 days of my life,” he stated.

Hagerich, as soon as an expert baseball participant, was drafted by the Florida Marlins within the MLB 2007 June novice draft from the College of Delaware.

His case goes to trial Might 3.