Now ex-baseball pro reveals he’s also trapped in Turks and Caicos: Father-of-two tells of hellish months-long ordeal after being caught with hunting ammo as children ask every day: ‘When is daddy coming home?’

A father who was stranded in Turks and Caicos after accidentally carrying ammunition in his luggage during a family holiday has told DailyMail.com of the hellish ordeal that sees him face up to 12 years in prison for the ‘honest mistake’.

Bryan Hagerich, 39, a former baseball pro, was arrested at the airport in the Caribbean islands in February after a five-day vacation with his wife, Ashley, and their two young children.

In a moving interview with DailyMail.com, Bryan and Ashley, 41, shared their ordeal amid a wave of arrests of American men who accidentally traveled to Turks and Caicos with ammunition in their luggage. All face long prison sentences under strict firearms laws in the British Overseas Territory.

Customs officials found a box of twenty rounds of hunting ammunition in Bryan’s luggage during a random inspection before his family’s return flight to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had accidentally left the bullets in his bag before the holidays.

Bryan was charged with a gun crime and held in a grim island prison for more than a week. He was subsequently released on bail and has since spent 76 days on the island awaiting sentencing.

The couple said the traumatic ordeal has had a profound impact on their two young children, Palmer, four, and Caroline, six, who ask every day, “When is daddy coming home?”

From the Airbnb where he has been living while on bail, Bryan also spoke of his desperate hope for leniency from the court so he can be reunited with his family.

As in the other ongoing cases, Bryan purchased the ammunition legally in the United States.

The issue of Americans being held in Turks and Caicos on firearms charges received renewed attention after another American father, Ryan Watson, was arrested earlier this month. Another man, Tyler Wenrich, was also charged this week.

“It’s been traumatic in every way,” Bryan said during a telephone interview Friday.

“As a father, it is my responsibility to provide for my family, protect my family and support them in every way imaginable. And for me now, 75 days of not being able to do that, it’s just been catastrophic.”

The family arrived in Turks and Caicos on February 8 and spent five days at the luxury Beaches resort.

‘This was the fourth time we came to the island. Obviously we came back again and again, so it’s a special place for us,” Bryan said.

They arrived at the airport on February 13 for their return flight and Bryan was called in for a random suitcase search. He presented himself to a customs officer and the staff checked his luggage while Ashley and their children waited at the gate.

“I didn’t mind that, agreed and over an extremely long period of time they searched my checked luggage and found hunting ammunition,” he said.

“I quickly recognized that the ammo was the type I use and have at home in the US, and everything from there was basically a whirlwind.

“At first they wouldn’t even let me inform Ashley of what was going on. She’s there with our two children, ready to board a flight, wondering where I am.”

Customs officials reluctantly allowed Bryan to see his wife for just a few minutes — while their children were forced to wait outside and could only see into the room through a window.

After police told Bryan he would be detained, the family decided that Ashley should return home with the children while the situation was resolved.

‘Later that evening, probably around dinner time, I was transferred here to the prison. And those eight nights and nine days were the darkest time of my life in every way,” Bryan said.

‘You are cut off from your family. They had no idea where I was, I honestly had no idea where I was.”

Ashley, who was able to track down her husband after searching Google for Turks and Caicos prisons and calling the prison directly, said customs staff told her bluntly, “Your husband is not coming home tomorrow. You won’t see your husband again for a long time.’

After spending more than a week in a jail cell, Bryan was granted bail and pleaded guilty to the firearms charge during a trial on March 28.

His next hearing is on May 3, when prosecutors will present their case and Bryan’s defense team will also make arguments before a sentencing date is set.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison, but courts may impose lower sentences if they believe there are exceptional circumstances.

In previous similar cases, American tourists were given hefty fines or prison sentences ranging from several months to more than a year.

“Nobody knows what might happen next,” Bryan said.

‘I thought [initially] that this would be resolved in a short time and hopefully I could catch the next flight, or maybe even the next day, to get home.

“Not knowing all that, you have so many emotions that you’re going through seeing your wife in tears, your kids in tears, and just basically ripped away from you.”

The family was briefly reunited over the Easter holidays, when Ashley and the children were able to visit Bryan on the island.

Bryan has also been in daily contact with his family, helping kids with their school work and also calling them on FaceTime during their baseball practice. Bryan is a former college baseball star who was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 2007 MLB draft.

Ashley said: “It has been really important for us to try and maintain as much normality and structure as possible [for the children]while everything in our lives right now is anything but normal.

“So, you know, for them, we just shared the dad’s work and he’s working really hard to get home, and we’re obviously emphasizing how much we love them. And we will all be together as a family again, hopefully very soon.”

Bryan, who works in the nonprofit nursing home and assisted living industry in Pennsylvania, has also been able to perform some work tasks remotely and said his employer’s support has been “fantastic.”

“I have 130 seniors at any given time whose lives and their care depend on my leadership, and that has been just as difficult not being able to deliver on that,” he added.

Ashley added, “We’re all human, and we all have flaws, and we all make mistakes. And in this situation, the crime simply doesn’t fit the punishment.

‘My husband made an honest mistake and he is absolutely prepared to take responsibility for it. That’s not even a question. But the thought of a 12-year prison sentence or any kind of prison sentence for something that wasn’t intentional and was an honest mistake – we left the country, for God’s sake – it just doesn’t seem human.”