An Oklahoma father who faced 12 years in prison on Turks and Caicos after hunting ammunition was found in his luggage has been allowed to return home to his two young children.
Ryan Watson, 40, was arrested in April with firearms offenses after four loose bullets were found at the country’s main airport on a vacation with his wife and friends.
After months awaiting his fate, Watson was sentenced on Friday to a 13-week suspended jail sentence and a $2,000 fine.
He was seen beaming alongside his wife Valerie after his passport was returned, and Watson reportedly paid the fine and boarded a flight back to Oklahoma City the same day he was sentenced.
Ryan Watson, 40, a Oklahoma father who faced 12 years in prison on Turks and Caicos after hunting ammunition was found in his luggage, has been allowed to return home to his two young children
Watson, 40, was sentenced on Friday to a 13-week suspended jail sentence and a $2,000 fine
Watson’s case was among several similar arrests made on the islands in a short space of time, with Pennsylvania father Bryan Hagerich also spared prison last month and hit with a $6,700 fine.
Tyler Wenrich – who was charged in April after two 9mm bullets were found in his luggage as he departed cruise ship – was also freed last month after being handed a $9,000 fine.
Following Watson’s sentencing hearing this week, the judge reportedly issued a warning to other American travelers to double-check their luggage before entering the vacation islands.
According to Newsline TCI, a Turks and Caicos news outlet, the nation’s parliament also unanimously voted to approve a revision of its ammo laws following a ‘great deal of flacking’ from US lawmakers.
Edwin Astwood, the parliament’s opposition leader, told The Sun TCI that the move was a ‘critical step in ensuring our legal system is both just and flexible.’
Watson’s case was among several similar arrests made on the islands in a short space of time, with Pennsylvania father Bryan Hagerich (pictured with his family) also spared prison last month and hit with a $6,700 fine
Tyler Wenrich, 31, (pictured with his wife) was also arrested on the same charges in April after bullets were found in his luggage as he stepped off a cruise. He was released last month after paying a $9,000 fine
Ryan was arrested in April along with his wife Valerie (pictured together arriving at their Turks and Caicos vacation), and faced a 12-year prison sentence that was graciously reduced to a fine this week
Ryan is seen kissing his wife after he was freed on Friday
‘It acknowledges that not all cases are alike and that our judges must have the ability to consider all factors and impose sentences that are truly just and appropriate,’ Astwood said.
He added that the policy changes are intended to differentiate between criminals intending to do harm, and tourists making a mistake.
This was exactly what Watson said happened to him when he spoke to DailyMail.com while still awaiting sentencing, which he and Valerie said was nothing more than an ‘innocent mistake.’
Ryan said he was mainly been left ‘confused’ by the strict punishment was facing, as the loose deer ammunition was not accompanied by a firearm, and he felt it was ‘clearly an honest mistake.’
Ryan Watson previously told DailyMail.com that he was left stunned by the charges against him, which he believed was an ‘honest mistake’
In an interview before their first court hearing, Valerie – who was later released back to their two young children – said the possibility of facing 12 years in prison left her ‘terrified’
The couple (left) stayed on the island with old friends (right) to celebrate Ryan’s 40th birthday before the bullets were found
Valerie added that Turks and Caicos officials appeared to take a ‘very different approach’ to American TSA, who missed the bullets as they departed for their vacation from Oklahoma.
‘It’s an innocent mistake, there was no intent to harm with it,’ she said. ‘It feels harsh, and we’re just trying to understand.’
They said that even Turks and Caicos airport staff struggled to find the bullets initially, and Ryan’s bag had to be passed through an X-ray machine twice for them to discover the ammunition.
The ammo had been accidentally left in the bag during a recent hunting trip, which Ryan said he is still wracking his head over as he never usually uses that bag for hunting gear.
‘I use that bag predominantly for street clothes, and my hunting gear would be in another bag, so I don’ know,’ he said.
‘I laid in the jail cell for 48 hours trying to think, and I can’t for the life of me remember putting them in there.’
Bryan Hagerich’s son seen holding a welcome home sign for his father after he was released last month and hit with a fine
When Bryan Hagerich was released, he said his ordeal was ‘the hardest of my life’, and said his freedom felt like ‘the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders.’
‘I’m so thankful to be home here with my family and friends but we still have three other Americans in Turks and Caicos,’ Hagerich said, in reference to one of the offenders.
‘It was tough, the darkest days of my life,’ he continued of his arrest. ‘You think you’re on this beautiful island but there’s nothing beautiful about it when you don’t have your family.’
When asked if he would visit again, he joked, ‘I think we’ll be looking for somewhere else.’
