Second American avoids prison time in Turks and Caicos on weapons charge - NBC News

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 that have been lifted off my shoulders and my wife and I’m glad that I get to go home and be with my son again," to he told reporters outside of court in Grand Turk.

Wenrich, who works as a paramedic and 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" in the matter, making Wenrich eligible for the shorter sentence.

As the court weighed all factors, the American said 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 that the outcome."

Wenrich’s road home followed the same path as fellow American Bryan Hagerich, who had also faced a 12-year term before being set free.

Wenrich had been on a cruise ship when the vessel docked in Grand Turk. Bullets from a previous hunting trip had been left unknowingly in his bag as he went through a security checkpoint.

The Virginia man said it was an innocent oversight, and he had no ill intentions when he accidentally left the rounds in his bag.

Despite the ordeal, the American said he's 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.

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