Five Americans have been arrested in Turks and Caicos over the past six months under gun control laws that make bringing firearms or ammunition into the territory without prior permission from police a crime. <\/p>\n
Michael Lee Evans, of Texas; Sharitta Grier, of Florida; Bryan Hagerich, of Pennsylvania; Ryan Tyler Watson, of Oklahoma; and Tyler Wenrich, of Virginia, were all accused of bringing various amounts of ammunition to Turks and Caicos, a 40-island chain southeast of the Bahamas. <\/p>\n
All have said the ammunition recovered from their luggage was not intentionally packed, according to American lawmakers who went to the British Overseas Territory in May as part of efforts to petition for their expedited release. <\/p>\n
Though the infractions had carried a mandatory 12-year prison sentence and fine \u2013 with reductions only in \u201cexceptional circumstances\u201d \u2013 a mid-June revision clarified courts may impose a fine, a custodial sentence or both in exceptional circumstances, a member of the territory\u2019s House of Assembly said June 14. <\/p>\n
Four Americans arrested under the law have pleaded guilty, been sentenced and returned to the US, while the last is due in court next week. Here\u2019s what we know so far about the laws in Turks and Caicos and the affected Americans: <\/p>\n
Though the territory doesn\u2019t manufacture firearms or ammunition, the number of firearms finding their way to the islands has increased \u2013 and that\u2019s a worry, Turks and Caicos Premier Washington Misick said. <\/p>\n
While it is legal to fly in the US with unloaded firearms and ammunition in checked baggage, according to the Transportation Security Administration, bringing firearms or ammunition into Turks and Caicos without prior permission from police is \u201cstrictly forbidden.\u201d <\/p>\n
The mandatory sentence was in place to protect those on the islands, Gov. Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam said. Judges could use their discretion to impose reduced sentences in \u201cexceptional circumstances,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
But no special treatment should be given to any group, the Turks and Caicos premier said: \u201cThe law must be applied even-handedly.\u201d <\/p>\n
Even so, the \u201camendment was introduced to address concerns about the rigidity of the previous sentencing framework, which mandated both imprisonment and financial penalties for all firearms offenses, regardless of the specific context or severity,\u201d House of Assembly member Edwin Astwood said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis often resulted in disproportionately harsh sentences that did not always fit the nature of the crime or the circumstances of the offender.\u201d <\/p>\n
US citizens are not being targeted, Turks and Caicos officials have said. Of the 195 people sentenced for firearm-related offenses over the past six years, only seven were US citizens, Misick has said, and none got a 12-year sentence. <\/p>\n
While Turks and Caicos collaborates with the US in battling narcotics, terrorism and money laundering, \u201cour laws and processes are not congruent,\u201d Misick said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a separate sovereignty. We respect the United States\u2019 laws and we will never think to interfere in its operation.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hagerich was the first of the five to return to the United States after he received a suspended 52-week sentence in late May, which meant he didn\u2019t face immediate incarceration, his representatives said. He was also given a $6,700 fine. <\/p>\n
The father of two <\/strong>pleaded guilty to possession of 20 rounds of ammunition, according to the Turks and Caicos government. <\/strong> <\/p>\n Hagerich paid the fine and was allowed to leave the British Overseas Territory. He got home May 24, according to Johnathan Franks, a spokesperson for the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, a group that helps wrongfully detained Americans secure release. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of catching up to do,\u201d Hagerich said. \u201cA lot of memories to make together. Just so elated to see them. They\u2019ve been so strong through all this.\u201d <\/p>\n Before Hagerich\u2019s sentencing, his wife had <\/strong>packed two suitcases \u2013 one if he was sentenced to prison and another if he were allowed to return home \u2013 they said in an exclusive interview with \u201cGood Morning America.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt was dark; you have no concept of time,\u201d Hagerich said about his week-long stay in jail in Turks and Caicos. \u201cI was with three folks that were accused of murder. It was scary.\u201d <\/p>\n Wenrich pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition while traveling to Turks and Caicos. <\/p>\n He was sentenced May 28 to three weeks time-served in jail and fined $9,000, said Kimo Tynes\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b, a Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands spokesperson said that day in a statement. <\/p>\n He returned home to Virginia on May 30. <\/p>\n The Hon. Justice Davidson Baptiste cited exceptional circumstances in Wenrich\u2019s case, saying, \u201cEnforcing the mandatory minimum would have been arbitrary and disproportionate, and would not serve the public interest.\u201d <\/p>\n Wenrich was charged with possession of two 9 mm rounds, according to the Turks and Caicos government. <\/p>\n Evans pleaded guilty to possession of seven 9 mm rounds of ammunition and appeared before the court on April 24 via video conference. <\/p>\n He was allowed to return to the United States on bail due to a \u201csevere\u201d medical situation and to attend his June sentencing hearing virtually, said his attorney Oliver Smith, King\u2019s Counsel. <\/p>\n Evans got a suspended 33-month sentence, and his attorney believes it is unlikely he will have to serve time in jail. <\/p>\n Watson was visiting Turks and Caicos with his wife in April to celebrate several friends\u2019 40th birthdays when he was charged with possession of four rounds of ammunition. He plead guilty in May. <\/p>\n Watson soon returned home and reunited with his family, US Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, said on X. <\/p>\n Grier was arrested in mid-May and is awaiting trial after making bail, Tynes said\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b. <\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know what was going to happen because I couldn\u2019t believe it was in there,\u201d she said. \u201cThey went through my bag and said they found rounds at the bottom of my carry-on.\u201d <\/p>\n Grier was released on bail but can\u2019t leave the island until her case concludes and must report to a local police station weekly, the station reported. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just broken,\u201d Grier said. <\/p>\n Grier\u2019s next court appearance is July 5, police said. <\/p>\n The Americans\u2019 arrest has stoked tension between US officials and their counterparts just a few hundred miles away. A request by a US congressional delegation to the islands in May for charges against the five Americas to be dropped did not yield the desired result. <\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, despite our willingness to work with Turks and Caicos officials to get our constituents home, we were not able to find a path forward today,\u201d Republican US Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said May 20 in a statement. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s to the point now, (where) every third week an American is being detained wrongfully (in) Turks and Caicos,\u201d Republican US Rep. Guy Reschenthaler told ABC News the same week. <\/p>\n In a House of Assembly address, the islands\u2019 Misick said, \u201cThe (accusations) of congressman (Reschenthaler) against the government and people of the Turks and Caicos Islands are nothing more than diabolic falsehoods.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThey were innocent mistakes,\u201d he said. \u201cAny other nation would handle this with a fine in sending that person back to the country of origin. Here, that\u2019s not happening.\u201d <\/p>\n On May 28, Mullin welcomed the news of Wenrich\u2019s release, calling it \u201canother step in the right direction,\u201d according to a post on X. <\/p>\n \u201cI again encourage TCI to address the unintended consequences of their law to prevent this from happening again.\u201d <\/p>\n This story has been updated with additional information.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Five Americans have been arrested in Turks and Caicos over the past six months under gun control laws that make bringing firearms or ammunition into the territory without prior permission from police a crime. Michael Lee Evans, of Texas; Sharitta Grier, of Florida; Bryan Hagerich, of Pennsylvania; Ryan Tyler Watson, of Oklahoma; and Tyler Wenrich, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Tyler Wenrich<\/h2>\n
Michael Lee Evans<\/h2>\n
Ryan Tyler Watson<\/h2>\n
Sharitta Shinese Grier<\/h2>\n
US lawmakers tried to free Americans<\/h2>\n