Recently, an American named Ryan Tyler Watson from Oklahoma was charged with possessing four rounds of ammunition in Turks and Caicos. He pleaded guilty and was fined $2,000, with a suspended 13-week sentence. Watson is now allowed to return home to Oklahoma City as long as he abides by the law and keeps the peace in Turks and Caicos within the next 9 months.
Watson was visiting the islands with his wife to celebrate friends' birthdays when the incident occurred. Bringing firearms or ammunition into Turks and Caicos without prior permission is strictly prohibited, as clarified by the Turks and Caicos Premier C. Washington Misick.
The British Overseas Territory has seen an increase in firearms entering the islands, prompting a revision of the firearms law. The law now allows courts to impose fines, custodial sentences, or a combination of both for firearms-related offenses, based on the circumstances.
Watson is the first of five Americans to be sentenced under the amended firearms law. Bryan Hagerich, Tyler Wenrich, Michael Lee Evans, and Sharitta Shinese Grier are the other Americans facing charges related to possessing ammunition in Turks and Caicos.
Hagerich received a suspended 52-week sentence and a $6,700 fine, while Wenrich was sentenced to time served and a $9,000 fine. Evans pleaded guilty to possession of seven 9 mm rounds of ammunition, and Grier is expected to plead guilty in court next week.
Grier, a Florida mother, claimed she was unaware of two rounds of ammunition in her luggage when she traveled to Turks and Caicos. She is currently on bail and cannot leave the islands until her case concludes, being required to report to a police station weekly.
