A 30-year-old American man was arrested in Turks and Caicos last weekend after ammunition was allegedly found in his luggage, CBS News has learned, making him the latest from several Americans In recent months they found themselves in a similar situation on British territory.
Tyler Wenrich was detained after officials allegedly found two bullets in his backpack on April 20 as he was about to board a cruise ship.
Possession of weapons or ammunition is prohibited in Turks and Caicos, but tourists used to simply pay a fine. However, in February, a court order ordered that even tourists in the process of leaving the country were subject to prison sentences.
The Virginia paramedic and his father now face the possibility of a mandatory minimum prison sentence of up to 12 years.
“I feel like, as a very honest mistake, 12 years is absurd,” his wife, Jeriann Wenrich, told CBS News on Friday.
Wenrich says her husband had been on the island for less than a day when the arrest occurred.
“My son is only 18 months old and I don’t want him to grow up without a father,” Wenrich said.
There are now at least four American tourists facing the possibility of long prison sentences on similar charges, including a 72-year-old man, Michael Lee Evans, who was arrested in December and pleaded guilty to possession of seven rounds of ammunition. He appeared in court on Wednesday via video conference link. Currently out on bail in the United States for medical reasons, Evans has a sentencing hearing in June. A fifth person, Michael Grim of Indiana, served nearly six months in prison after pleading guilty to mistakenly carrying ammunition in his checked luggage while on vacation.
Ryan Watson, a 40-year-old father of two from Oklahoma, was released from a Turks and Caicos prison on $15,000 bond Wednesday. After a birthday vacation with his wife, he was arrested on April 12 when airport security allegedly found four rounds of hunting ammunition in his carry-on bag earlier this month.
His wife, Valerie Watson, flew home to Oklahoma on Tuesday after learning she would not be charged. However, as part of her bail agreement, her husband must remain on the island and report to the Grace Bay police station every Tuesday and Thursday while her case progresses.
In an interview Friday from the island, Ryan Watson told CBS News that he checked the suitcase before packing it.
“I opened it and gave it a little shake, I didn’t see anything, I didn’t hear anything,” he said.
The TSA also acknowledged that agents lost the ammunition when Watson’s bag was searched at the checkpoint on April 7 at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.
In a statement provided to CBS News on Friday, a TSA spokesperson said that “four rounds of ammunition were not detected” in Watson’s bag “during security screening.”
The spokesperson said “an oversight occurred that the agency is addressing internally.”
“It was my mistake,” Ryan Watson said. “It was very innocent. And I just pray for that, compassion and consideration, because there was no criminal intent.”
In a statement Friday, the Turks and Caicos government said it “reserves the right to enforce its laws and all visitors must follow its law enforcement procedures.”
Following CBS News’ report on Ryan Watson earlier this week, the State Department issued a warning again to American tourists traveling to the Turks and Caicos Islands to “carefully check their luggage for lost ammunition or forgotten weapons.”
Kris Van Cleave