A Pennsylvania man is among other Americans facing more than a decade in prison due to a strict firearms and ammunition law in Turks and Caicos.
Bryan Hagerich, of Somerset County, has been stuck on the islands for more than 70 days, after he was detained while trying to fly home from a vacation in February.
“This was an honest mistake, anybody can make an honest mistake,” Bryan’s wife, Ashley Hagerich, told Channel 11 on Wednesday.
Ahead of boarding a flight home, Bryan unknowingly had hunting ammunition within his luggage, the family says.
In Turks and Caicos, firearms, ammunition and other weapons are not permitted, and those who violate the law face a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years in prison.
“That’s a bag my husband has used numerous times on hunting trips, and going to hunting camp, and it was just leftover in a secure pouch and it was just forgotten about, and you know, people make mistakes, and in this sense, the crime just doesn’t fit the sentencing and the repercussions of this,” Ashley said.