A Virginia man avoided a long prison sentence Tuesday when a judge in Turks and Caicos sentenced him to time served for illegally bringing bullets to the island getaway.
Tyler Wenrich, 31, was fined $9,000 and sentenced to three weeks' time served, meaning he was free to return to Louisa, Virginia.
"I feel very, just, relieved. A weight has been lifted off my shoulders and my wife, and I’m glad that I get to go home and be with my son again," he told reporters outside court in Grand Turk.
Wenrich, a paramedic who has an 18-month-old baby, had pleaded guilty to an ammunition charge that could have exposed him to a 12-year prison sentence.
But a judge ruled there were "extraordinary circumstances," making Wenrich eligible for the shorter sentence.
Wenrich said that as the court weighed all factors, he was riding an emotional roller coaster, not knowing the final result.
“Very emotional, because it’s up and down, because he goes through everything," Wenrich said. "You don’t know if it’s going one way or the other as he’s read through everything, so, so tearing up every time I heard '18-month-old son,' and now I’m just relieved at the outcome."
Wenrich’s road home followed the same path as that of fellow American Bryan Hagerich, who had also faced a 12-year term before he was set free.
Wenrich had been on a cruise ship when it docked in Grand Turk. Bullets from a previous hunting trip had unknowingly been left in his bag as he went through a security checkpoint.
He said that it was an innocent oversight and that he had no ill intentions when he accidentally left the rounds in his bag.
Despite the ordeal, he said, he is grateful for the kind treatment from everyone he encountered in Turks and Caicos, even police and jailers.
"Everybody truly, honestly — I know we’ve said this through this ordeal — but it’s been, it’s been true that everybody here, the citizens, police, the guards, everybody, has been phenomenal, hospitable and friendly," he said.
