America will not allow its citizens to rot in a Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) jail cell for a silly mistake.

Last month, five Americans vacationing in the Turks & Caicos Islands were discovered to have bullets in their luggage, an offence that carries a mandatory 12-year sentence.

They were charged and detained but insisted they were unaware the bullets were inadvertently left in their bags after hunting trips.

TCI authorities did not see it that way and were looking to throw the full weight of the law against the American visitors.

Then America sent a bipartisan delegation down to the TCI to sort this out. They insisted the tiny Caribbean island had to be reasonable and release the errant Americans.

Last Friday, 39-year-old Bryan Hagenich from Pennsylvania returned to his family in the US with the TCI court opting to impose a 52-week suspended sentence and a US$6,700 fine rather than press for a 12-year sentence.

The others who remain in TCI facing sentencing are: Ryan Wilson aged 40, Tyler Scott Wenrich, 31, Sharitta Shinse Grier, 45. Michael Lee Evans 72, had a serious medical condition and was allowed to fly home.

American congressmen and women, senators and State Department officials maintain that the TCI authorities have been unyielding and that it would not go well for the country if the visitors with the bullets were harshly thrown in jail. They insist that they must all return to America at once.

Congressman Guy Reschenthaler declared earlier, “We want to see a resolution here where Americans get zero amount of jail time. They should be given time served and be sent home to the United States.

“They were innocent mistakes. Any other nation would handle this with a fine and send that person back to the country of origin. Here, that is not happening.”

Members of the American delegation said that they were at an impasse and that the TCI authorities didn’t want to give any ground.

Former Florida State attorney, Brian Fletcher told Our Today, “Little Caribbean islands should know better than to play hardball with the United States. All we need to do is insist that Americans stop vacationing in the Caribbean and that would cripple their economies. They need us more than we need them. This was a simple mistake made by decent people. The prospect of them sitting in a Caribbean jail for years over this is ridiculous. We can only play nice for so long before we have to put the hammer down. “

“This is the United States of America we are talking about.”

Reschenthaler insists that the minimum 12-year sentence for ammunition charges is completely unacceptable and that the Americans made a simple mistake.

Members of the TCI Government hold the view that the US is wrong and strong and take exception to its approach to this situation. The law was enacted to curtail gangs running rampant on the island and to reduce gun crimes. 

Premier of the TCI Washington Misick said the accusation of Congressman Guy Reschenthaler against the TCi is nothing more than a diabolical falsehood.

Reschenthaler, for his part, observed, “It’s to the point now where every third week an American is being detained wrongfully in Turks & Caicos.”

The TCI depends on American tourists for its livelihood. Tourism is the main driver of its economy.