An American father faces 12 years in prison in the Turks and Caicos Islands after ammunition was found in his luggage when he returned home from a vacation with his wife.
Ryan Watson, 40, has remained on the island for weeks after his April 11 arrest along with his wife Valerie, 38, who had charges dropped Monday when she was allowed to return home to her family. two small children.
The couple said they were going through airport security when four rounds of hunting ammunition were found in Ryan’s carry-on luggage, which they say were left behind by accident.
“We were trying to pack shorts and flip flops,” Valerie said. CBS News. “Packing ammunition was not our intention at all.”
Ryan Watson and his wife Valerie (pictured together arriving on vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands) were arrested on April 11 after Turks and Caicos airport staff found ammunition in Ryan’s luggage.
Ryan, an avid hunter and outdoorsman, admitted the ammunition was his but insisted he accidentally left it in his bag, in what he described as a “stupid mistake.”
After weeks stuck on the Caribbean islands, cameras captured the moment Valerie was reunited with the couple’s two young children in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma couple was in the Caribbean islands for a friend’s 40th birthday, but Valerie said their trip quickly “went from what was supposed to be a dream vacation to a nightmare.”
A small bag of bullets in a zip-lock bag was found in his luggage, which the US TSA had lost on his outbound flight.
Ryan said in an interview before his first court hearing that his heart sank as soon as he saw the bullets, which he recognized from a recent whitetail deer hunting trip.
“I recognized them and thought, ‘what a stupid mistake,'” he said. “I had no idea they were there.”
The couple were forced to remain on the island while their passports were confiscated, and Ryan said officials ignored their pleas that this was a “completely innocent mistake.”
Despite their insistence that the ammunition was accidentally left behind on a previous hunting trip, Turks and Caicos prosecutors maintained that the crime is a serious crime in the nation. In 2022, the nation passed stricter laws imposing a minimum 12-year sentence for ammunition possession.
Valerie tearfully said that when she heard the mandatory sentence, she was “immediately terrified, because we can’t be in prison for 12 years, we have kids at home.”
Ryan and Valerie (right) were in Turks and Caicos to celebrate a birthday with their friends, which Valerie said quickly “went from what was supposed to be a dream vacation to a nightmare.”
The Oklahoma couple said the ordeal is draining them emotionally and financially, as Ryan said it’s something they will “never recover from.”
As an avid hunter and outdoorsman, Ryan said he accidentally left the bullets in his carry-on luggage from a recent deer hunting trip.
In an interview before her first court hearing, Valerie said the prospect of facing 12 years in prison left her “terrified” because they have two young children.
Ryan was held at Chalk Sound Police Station (pictured) until he posted bail, however he cannot leave the island because his passport was confiscated.
She spent 11 days on the island facing charges along with her husband, but her charges were dropped on April 22 and she was allowed to return to her family in Oklahoma.
On Tuesday, cameras captured the candid moment she hugged her children again for the first time in weeks, which she said was bittersweet as her husband’s case remains in limbo.
“I’ve been thinking about this moment for a while and I didn’t know when it was going to happen. “I was prepared to be arrested yesterday too,” she said. COCONUT.
‘I don’t know if I have words to describe it, just hugging them again. It just filled my mom’s heart and made me very happy.
“It gives me a lot of comfort knowing that I can now be here with them, but my wife’s heart is still broken because Ryan is not with me.”
Valerie said she is still fighting to get her husband cleared of his criminal charges, and several prominent Oklahoma politicians, including Gov. Kevin Stitt and Sen. Markwayne Mullin, also lent their support.
In a letter to Turks and Caicos Islands officials on April 16, Stitt explained that Ryan is an “avid outdoorsman” and that leaving the ammunition in his bag was an oversight, not an intentional attempt to break the law. .
Senator Mullin’s office has also said it has been in contact with Watson’s family and is working to secure his freedom and flight home.
“We know that God is still working and working through us,” Valerie added.
The couple (pictured after their arrests on the island) have received support from several prominent Oklahoma politicians, including Governor Kevin Stitt and Senator Markwayne Mullin.
As she struggles to bring her husband home, Valerie said she only got through this ordeal because she believes “God is still working and working through us.”
Despite the outpouring of support, the couple said Ryan’s extended stay and legal bills are draining their family financially and emotionally, from which they said they may “never recover.”
TO GoFundMe has been created to help the couple with costs, which at the time of writing have exceeded $106,000.
Ryan’s social media also shows his passion for the outdoors, as he is seen riding horses and hugging his family in cowboy hats.
In September 2023, US officials issued a travel alert specifically warning Americans not to bring firearms and ammunition into the Turks and Caicos Islands due to the country’s escalating firearms and ammunition laws.