A judge decided Friday that an American who was arrested on the islands with four rounds of ammunition in his luggage will not have to spend any more time in jail.
Justice Lobban Jackson gave Ryan Watson, who is 40 years old, time served and a $2,000 fine, which he paid soon after the court shut down.
Watson left the islands around 3:30 p.m. local time and went back to the United States.
“I’m glad the judge looked at the whole situation. “Knowing that the prosecution was still going after a 12-year sentence made me nervous,” Watson told reporters outside of court.
“I’m going to pay this fine, go home and see those kids,” Watson said.
Valerie Watson, Watson’s wife, cried tears of joy as Justice Jackson made the decision. Sharitta Grier, a grandmother from Florida, was caught on the islands not long ago after being found with two rounds of ammunition. His wife held hands with her.
Valerie Watson, his wife, said, “That moment I’ve been waiting for a very long time gave me the biggest sense of relief.”
If Watson was caught with a gun on the island getaway in April, he could face a 12-year prison sentence under the territory’s gun rule.
Two other cases of Americans detained in similar situations just ended, and the judges let those guys go.
Justice Jackson said that 12 years in jail would be “arbitrary and disproportionately” harsh because there were special circumstances that made a no-prison sentence appropriate.
The judge also said that she looked at what more than a dozen character witnesses said about Watson.
U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, said Watson has “impeccable character” and a “history of service to his community,” which includes helping the poor.
Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma said that Watson was “unwavering in moral character.”
Watson said he’s thankful for all the people who backed him on the island and in the US.
“Oklahoma has stepped up in the way that they have throughout this,” he noted. “There’s people on this island that have stepped up in ways that are beyond our comprehension.”
Friends, his wife, his mother, his stepfather, his sister, his brother-in-law, and other family members were in the crowd to cheer him on.
Family and friends were on the edge of their seats as Judge Jackson made her decision because she kept bringing up the possibility of a 12-year sentence.
When she finally gave the term suspension, family and friends could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Sue Fendley, Watson’s mother, said, “I want to jump for joy.” “I thought he was going to prison for 12 years.”
Watson wore a suit and tie to court, along with a pocket square and tie bar. He looked very sharp.
But as soon as court was over, he changed into pants, a cowboy hat, and boots, which made him look very Oklahoma.
Watson was caught when his checked luggage at the airport turned out to have a plastic bag inside that had four rounds of ammo in it. That’s what Watson said. It was for shooting deer and got left in the luggage by accident.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are a group of islands in the Caribbean and a British overseas region. It is illegal to have guns there, and the law says you have to serve 12 years in prison unless there are special circumstances.
This week, the government changed the rule to get rid of the requirement for a minimum 12-year sentence.
Even before that, Americans Bryan Hagerich and Tyler Wenrich were not given any extra jail time even though police said they brought bullets into the country illegally. Hagerich’s term was put on hold, and Wenrich was given three weeks of community service.
The former Major League Baseball draftee from Pennsylvania, Hagerich, and the fireman from Virginia, Wenrich, both pleaded guilty to a charge of having a gun.
In the cases of both men, a judge said there were special reasons why they shouldn’t go to jail.
The United States has arrested five people in the region since December on suspicion of having illegal weapons.
The other two cases, against Florida’s Sharitta Grier and Michael Lee Evans, are still being worked on. Grier has not pleaded guilty yet, and Evans has pleaded guilty but has not been given a punishment. Neither of them is in jail. Evans was allowed to go back to Texas to get medical care.
Premier C. Washington Misick tried to reassure the people of the U.S. that the region welcomes visitors from all over the world while the news was rolling.
Misick said in a speech last month, before the law was changed to remove the mandatory 12-year sentence, that judges can do what they think is best.
“In fact, in cases that happened before the five cases that got a lot of attention in the media, the mandatory 12-year minimum sentence has never been given by the Court because judges decided in each case that special circumstances called for shorter sentences,” he said.
He said that every year about a million people come to the Turks and Caicos Islands, and that about half of them are American.
Watson and his wife were one of them. For his 40th birthday, they and their friends came here.
Watson and his wife Valerie were first charged with having guns. However, Valerie’s charges were dropped, and she went back to Oklahoma City to be with their two kids, who are 9 and 7.
