Valerie Watson returned to Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City in tears Tuesday morning in a drastic departure from how she imagined her long weekend trip to Turks and Caicos would end.
Watson is home, but her husband, Ryan Watson, is in jail on the island and faces a possible mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years behind bars after airport security allegedly found four rounds of hunting ammunition in her purse earlier this month.
“We were trying to pack shorts and flip-flops,” Valerie Watson told CBS News. “Packing ammunition was not our intention at all.”
Valerie Watson, who learned on Sunday that she would not be charged and would be allowed to return home, said the trip “turned from what was supposed to be a dream vacation into a nightmare.”
The Watsons are not the only ones going through this ordeal.
Bryan Hagerich is awaiting trial after ammunition was found in the Pennsylvania man's checked bag in February.
“Then I spent eight nights in their local jail. Some of the darkest and hardest times of my life, frankly,” Hagerich said. “These last 70 days have been kind of a roller coaster, just the pain and suffering of having your family at home and me being here.”
Possessing a gun or ammunition is prohibited in Turks and Caicos, but previously tourists could often only pay a fine. In February, however, a court order ordered that even tourists in the process of leaving the country are subject to a prison sentence.
Since November 2022, there have been eight firearms and ammunition prosecutions in total involving US tourists, three of which are currently in court with each defendant out on bail.
Last year, a judge found that Michael Grim of Indiana had “exceptional circumstances” when he pleaded guilty to accidentally having ammunition in his checked bag. He served almost six months in prison.
“There's no clean running water. You're kind of exposed to the environment 24 hours a day,” he told CBS News. “Mosquitoes and tropical diseases are a real concern. There are some hostile actors in the prison.”
The judge hoped to send a message to other Americans.
“[His] the sentence was based entirely on the fact that I was American,” Grim said.
The U.S. Embassy last September posted a travel alert online, warning people to “check luggage for lost ammunition,” noting that it “could not ensure your freedom to custody”.
In a statement, a State Department spokesperson told CBS News: “We are aware of the arrest of US citizens in Turks and Caicos. When a US citizen is arrested abroad, we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. In a foreign country, US citizens are subject to the laws of that country, even if they differ from those of the United States.”
Last year, The TSA found a record 6,737 guns at the airport security checkpoints, and most of them were loaded.
“I can't even begin to think that this innocent and unfortunate mistake would prevent me from being able to see my son graduate or teach him how to shave or take my daughter to dance,” said Ryan Watson. “It's unfathomable. I don't, I can't process it.”
The government of Turks and Caicos responded to CBS News in a lengthy statement upholding the law and reiterating that even if mitigating circumstances are found, the judge must impose jail time.
Kris Van Cleave
