Pennsylvania father of two, Bryan Hagerich, is expected to be in court Friday after ammunition was found in his checked luggage.Bryan Hagerich is facing a dozen years in a Turks and Caicos prison after airport security found ammunition in his suitcase back in February.
In the U.S., it is legal to fly with unloaded firearms and ammunition in checked baggage, according to the Transportation Security Administration. American tourists previously arrested in Turks and Caicos for possessing ammunition typically were briefly jailed and paid hefty fines before being able to return home.
For those convicted of possessing ammunition and firearms, exceptional circumstances may be considered during sentencing. The sentencing judge "has discretion to impose a custodial sentence and a fine that are fair and just in the circumstances of each case," the Turks and Caicos attorney general said in a statement in April.
He said he hopes the judge is lenient in the sentencing and that he doesn't want to be separated from his family for 12 years.The Oklahoma resident was returning with his wife from a trip to Turks and Caicos to celebrate several friends' 40th birthdays when he was arrested on April 12. Four rounds of ammunition were allegedly found in his carry-on bag at the Howard Hamilton International Airport, police said.
The Virginia resident traveled to Grand Turk on a cruise ship for a bachelor party in late April when ammunition was found in his possession while going through a security checkpoint, police said. "I take a lot of responsibility for it because I have to," he said, though noted that the ammunition was overlooked by several entities before being found.Defense attorney Sheena Mair said in court, in arguing for a more lenient sentence, "A mandatory minimum of 12 years in this case is not what Parliament intended with the firearm ordinance change in October 2022.
Firearms, ammunition and other weapons are not permitted in the Turks and Caicos Islands ," the alert stated. " TCI authorities strictly enforce all firearms-and-ammunition-related laws. The penalty for traveling to TCI with a firearm, ammunition, or other weapon can result in a minimum custodial sentence of twelve years."
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