Bryan Hagerich, a father of two from Pennsylvania, was imprisoned and held for almost 100 days in Turks and Caicos for having stray ammo in his luggage at the island’s airport. He has now been back home for about two weeks.
Hagerich had to argue his way out of a minimum 12-year sentence for the offense even though, like four other Americans caught over the same thing since February, he had no idea the ammunition was in his suitcase while he was getting ready to return home from a family vacation.
Ultimately, a judge permitted the 39-year-old former baseball player to go back home after dictating that he must pay a $6,500 fine. Hagerich is now voicing concerns about the lack of backing from it.
After being imprisoned for more than two months—I believe it was more than 70 days—the State Department didn’t get in touch with me. Hagerich told News , “I was first contacted after the story received national media attention.” “…a person [from the State Department] who visited the island felt more or less like a box to be checked. They were fairly certain that we had committed a crime. For that, we ought to practically go to jail.
