American arrested on Turks and Caicos Islands for ammunition avoids prison sentence

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands – An American was arrested in the Turks and Caicos Islands after shooting four people were found in his luggage, he will be spared a prison sentence, a judge decided on Friday.

After serving his sentence and paying a fine of $2,000, or $500 per lap, Ryan Watson could head home to Oklahoma later Friday.

His arrest in April during his trip to the island under the territory’s gun laws raised the threat of a possible 12-year prison sentence.

In two other cases in which Americans were detained under similar circumstances, judges recently granted the men leniency.

Judge Lobban Jackson concluded that there were exceptional circumstances justifying a non-custodial sentence and said 12 years in prison would be “arbitrary and disproportionate”.

The judge also said she considered the testimony of more than a dozen character witnesses who vouched for Watson.

Republican U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said Watson had an “impeccable character” and had “always served his community,” including helping the homeless.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt described his constituent Watson as “morally unwavering.”

Watson had several family members supporting him at the gallery, including his wife, mother, stepfather, sister, brother-in-law and several friends.

Watson, 40, was arrested after a plastic bag containing four rounds of ammunition was found during a search of his travel bag at the airport. Watson said the bag was intended for deer hunting and was accidentally left in his luggage.

In the Turks and Caicos Islands, a Caribbean archipelago and British overseas territory, possession of ammunition is illegal and, unless there are exceptional circumstances, the law carries a mandatory prison sentence of 12 years.

This week, the government changed its law and abolished the mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years.

Previously, the two Americans Bryan Hagerich and Tyler Wenrich were not sentenced to further prison after, according to authorities, they illegally brought ammunition into the country. Hagerich received a suspended sentence and Wenrich had to serve three weeks in prison.

Hagerich, a former Major League Baseball Rocket from Pennsylvania, and Wenrich, a paramedic from Virginia, pleaded guilty to munitions-related charges.

In both men’s cases, a judge found exceptional circumstances and therefore refrained from imposing a prison sentence.

In total, five Americans have been arrested in the area since December on suspicion of illegal possession of ammunition.

The other two cases, against Sharitta Grier of Florida and Michael Lee Evans, are still pending. Grier has not admitted a guilty plea and Evans has pleaded guilty but has not yet been sentenced. Neither is in prison. Evans was allowed to return to Texas for medical reasons.

Amid the media coverage, Prime Minister C. Washington Misick sought to reassure the people of the United States that the territory values ​​visitors from around the world.

Before the mandatory 12-year prison sentence was removed from the law, Misick said in a statement last month that judges were free to use their discretion.

“In fact, in the cases that occurred before the five cases that attracted media attention, the court never imposed the mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years because in each case the judges decided that exceptional circumstances justified a shorter sentence,” he said.

About a million people visit the Turks and Caicos Islands each year, he said, and about half of them are Americans.

Watson and his wife were among them. They and their friends came here to celebrate his 40th birthday.

Watson and his wife Valerie were initially charged with possession of ammunition, but the charges against Valerie were dropped and she returned to Oklahoma City to be with her two children, ages 9 and 7.

Several U.S. lawmakers traveled to the Turks and Caicos Islands last month to campaign for the release of the five Americans.

Juliette Arcodia reported from Providenciales and Phil Helsel from Los Angeles.