A Pennsylvania father said he is facing a constant ‘nightmare’ as he awaits sentencing for accidentally bringing ammunition to Turks and Caicos.
Bryan Hagerich, 39, a former baseball pro, has spent months on the Caribbean islands after he was arrested in February when hunting bullets were found in his luggage while leaving a vacation with his wife and two young children.
Ahead of his sentencing on Friday – where he faces 12 years behind bars – Hagerich said he has endured the ‘darkest days and nights of my life’ on the islands.
‘It has been nothing short of a struggle, a nightmare’ he told Good Morning America.
‘Twelve years is a long time, and all those special things you look forward to as a parent, knowing you potentially couldn’t be there for those, that’s what keeps me up at night.’
While Hagerich is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, the judge notably has the option to delay their decision by up to 14 days if they choose.
Bryan Hagerich and his wife Ashley said he has endured a ‘nightmare’ since his arrest in February for accidental ammunition possession, for which he may be sentenced on Friday
The family were visiting Turks and Caicos for the fourth time and said the island is a ‘special place for us’. Bryan, a former baseball pro, faces 12 years in prison on the firearms charges
The father-of-two said he and his wife Ashley routinely take their two young children to Turks and Caicos every year, and said this year’s trip was perhaps their ‘best yet.’
But Bryan said the nightmare began when he heard his name called over the airport speaker system, notifying him that his luggage had been selected for a random screening.
Airport staff found hunting ammunition in his checked bag that he says was accidentally left over from a recent hunting trip, leading to his arrest within a matter of minutes.
The 39-year-old said his arrest inside the airport was particularly painful for his family as he was hauled away from his wife and children in handcuffs, leaving them stunned.
‘I remember pleading like, ‘can’t we just give these (bullets) to you, can’t we just pay a fine? It was an honest mistake,» Ashley said.
‘It was a firm no, it was quick, the kids were crying, just disbelief is probably the best word I can use to describe it.’
Bryan was subsequently taken to a jail on the island, where he spent eight nights in a small cell that he described as ‘the absolute darkest days and nights of my life.’
Hagerich is one of several American men facing the same charges, with the wife of Tyler Wenrich, 31 – arrested April 20 after two 9mm bullets were found in his luggage – describing the squalid cell her husband was left in to DailyMail.com.
‘The conditions were horrible,’ Wenrich’s wife Jeriann said. ‘It was basically a cinder block room, he had three little windows, no screens, no AC, he didn’t really have a bed… there was nothing in the cell at all really.’
‘He said he had to use his shoes as pillows,’ she added.
The former baseball pro, who now works for a nursing home provider, said he is terrified at the prospect of missing his children’s childhoods
Bryan previously told DailyMail.com that being away from his children for months has been ‘catastrophic’
Bryan Hagerich is one of several Americans held in Turks and Caicos after accidentally taking ammo to the islands. Tyler Wenrich, 31, (pictured with his wife Jeriann) is also facing a lengthy prison term after bullets were found in his luggage as he departed a cruise
Jeriann Wenrich told DailyMail.com about the squalid conditions Tyler was left in for days, describing it as ‘horrible’ where he had to use his shoes for pillows
The American men – also including Oklahoma father-of-two Ryan Watson – have fallen to a strict law on Turks and Caicos introduced in 2022, that escalated punishment for firearms and ammunition possession to a 12-year sentence.
Following Bryan’s arrest in February, he spent months alone on the island, before recently moving into an AirBnB with Watson while they await their sentences.
The two men showed off their cramped sleeping arrangement to Good Morning America, with two small single beds right next to each other in one room.
Despite their ordeal, Ryan said sharing the home with someone else going through the same circumstances has been comforting.
‘This is probably the loneliest I have been in my entire life,’ he said.
‘But to have somebody who is experiencing the very same thing as you, it gives you some bit of support.’
In an interview with DailyMail.com the week before his sentencing, Bryan added that despite the support, being away from his family has been devastating.
‘As a father, it’s my responsibility to provide for my family, to protect my family, to support them in every way imaginable. And for me now, 75 days of not being able to do that, it’s just been catastrophic,’ he said.
Bryan recently moved into an AirBnB with Ryan Watson (right), who is facing the same charges, and the two men showed off their cramped living space while awaiting their sentencing
Ryan Watson (pictured with his wife Valerie and their two young children) also faces 12 years in prison in Turks and Caicos after a handful of deer hunting bullets were found in his luggage
Both fathers of two young children, Ashley Hagerich said she and Bryan’s children have been left confused and upset by why their father never came home with them.
‘The first question I’m asked at the start of every day, and the last question I’m asked when I put my kids to bed at night, is ‘when is my daddy coming home?» she said.
Bryan has since missed both of his children’s birthdays, and said he is terrified of the prospect of missing their childhoods if he is sentenced to the full 12-year term.
‘Twelve years is a long time, and all those special things you look forward to as a parent, knowing you potentially couldn’t be there for those, that’s what keeps me up at night,’ he said.
