American Ryan Watson stuck in Turks and Caicos jail and facing 12 years in prison after airport staff found four rounds of ammo in his luggage as he tried to return home – ‘It was an innocent mistake!’
An American father faces 12 years in prison in Turks and Caicos after ammunition was found in his luggage when he returned home from a holiday with his wife.
Ryan Watson, 40, spent weeks on the island after his April 11 arrest with his wife Valerie, 38, who saw her charges dropped Monday when she was allowed to return home to their two young children.
The couple said they were walking through airport security when four rounds of hunting ammunition were found in Ryan’s carry-on luggage, which they said had been accidentally left behind.
“We tried to pack board shorts and flip flops,” Valerie said CBS News. “Packaging ammunition was not our intention at all.”
Ryan Watson and his wife Valerie (pictured arriving together on their Turks and Caicos holiday) 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 it had been accidentally left in his bag, which he described as an “idiot mistake.”
After weeks stuck in the Caribbean islands, cameras captured the moment Valerie was reunited with the couple’s two young children in Oklahoma
The Oklahoma couple were in the Caribbean for a friend’s 40th birthday, but Valerie said their trip quickly “turned from a dream vacation to a nightmare.”
A bag of bullets in a ziplock bag was found in his luggage, which the US TSA had missed on their departing flight.
Ryan said in an interview before his first court appearance that his heart sank as soon as he saw the bullets, which he recognized from a recent white-tailed deer hunt.
“I recognized them and thought, what a stupid mistake,” he said. “I had no idea they were in there.”
The couple was forced to remain on the island when their passports were seized, and Ryan said officials rejected his pleas that it was a “completely innocent mistake.”
Despite their insistence that the ammunition was accidentally left behind during an earlier hunting trip, Turks and Caicos prosecutors insisted the crime is a serious crime in the country. In 2022, the country passed stricter laws requiring a minimum sentence of twelve years for ammunition possession.
Valerie said through tears that when she heard the mandatory sentence, she was “immediately terrified, because we can’t spend 12 years in prison, we have children at home.”
Ryan and Valerie (right) were in Turks and Caicos for a birthday party with their friends, which Valerie said “turned what should have been a dream vacation into a nightmare.”
The Oklahoma couple said the ordeal is draining them emotionally and financially, while Ryan said it is something they ‘may never recover from’
An avid outdoorsman and hunter, Ryan said he accidentally left the bullets in his carry-on during a recent deer hunt.
In an interview before their first court hearing, Valerie said the possibility of 12 years in prison “terrified” her because they have two young children.
Ryan was held at Chalk Sound Police Station (pictured) until he posted bail, but he cannot leave the island as his passport has been confiscated
She spent 11 days on the island where she was charged along with her husband, but saw her charges dropped on April 22 and allowed to return to their family in Oklahoma.
On Tuesday, cameras captured the heartfelt moment she hugged her children 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 would happen. “I was prepared to be arrested yesterday too,” she said KOCO.
‘I don’t know if I even have words to describe it, I just have to hold them again. It just filled my mom heart and made me so happy.
“It gives me great comfort to know that I can be here with them now, but my wife’s heart is still breaking because Ryan is not with me.”
Valerie said she is still fighting for her husband’s release from his criminal charges, with several prominent Oklahoma politicians, including Governor Kevin Stitt and Senator Markwayne Mullin, also lending 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 a mistake, and not a deliberate 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 He is 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 fights to get her husband home, Valerie says she only endured the ordeal because she believes that “God is still at work and he is 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 he said they may “never recover.”
a GoFundMe was set up to help the couple with costs, which at the time of writing exceeded $106,000.
Ryan’s social media also shows his passion for the outdoors, as he rides horses and hugs his family in cowboy hats.
In September 2023, US officials issued a travel alert specifically warning Americans against bringing firearms and ammunition to Turks and Caicos due to the escalation of the country’s firearms and ammunition laws.