A vacation to celebrate Mother’s Day is a chance to kick back and unwind.
But it became a nightmare for one woman during a trip to the Caribbean.
And a Florida woman was arrested on a Mother’s Day vacation for this awful reason.
Florida woman arrested for accidentally having ammunition on during Caribbean trip
Orlando, Florida resident Sharitta Shinise Grier traveled with her daughter for a Mother’s Day getaway in the Turks and Caicos, a British territory in the Caribbean.
Grier and her daughter were arrested by police at Hamilton International Airport after a routine bag search turned up two rounds of ammunition.
Turks and Caicos passed a law two years ago that made it a mandatory minimum 12-year jail sentence for anyone caught bringing guns or ammunition to the island.
Authorities later released Grier’s daughter.
She becomes the fifth American to visit Turks and Caicos charged for illegally bringing ammunition into the country this year.
In all the cases, the accused Americans said they had accidentally brought it to the territory.
The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) missed the ammunition during security screenings.
This raises questions as to how authorities in the Turks and Caicos could catch the ammo, but the TSA missed it in all five cases.
If they were caught at an American airport, they could expect a misdemeanor and a small fine.
Biden’s State Department has thus far shown little interest in helping these American citizens who are facing more than a decade in a foreign jail.
American woman makes horrible mistake by bringing two bullets to Turks and Caicos
Willie Lucas, Grier’s mother, told Fox 35 Orlando that she was shocked by the situation.
Grier is currently in a rental property on the island with the four other Americans, all awaiting their day in court.
“Whew. Just for two bullets? It was just a horrible mistake for all five,” Chanchy Willis, Grier’s cousin, said.
Willis took comfort that her cousin was not alone on the island, but with others in the same circumstance.
“Watching the others and how they are close-knit, and reaching out to her, showing her that she’s not alone, they are all in this together, that brings joy to my heart,” Willis stated.
Ryan Watson of Oklahoma was arrested in the Turks and Caicos after accidentally leaving ammunition from a hunting trip in his bag.
“We had no intentions of ever bringing anything into this country. It was just trying to pack board shorts and flip-flops, and that was all we were concerned about bringing,” Watson previously told Fox News Digital. “So … it never dawned on us to research any of these things. And there are a lot of locals that have been just such a blessing and have had such gracious hearts.”
They will have a chance to plead their cases at Turks and Caicos Superior Court that it was a mistake to bring the ammunition and that their sentence would be excessive for the crime.
A sun-soaked trip to the Turks and Caicos turned into a nightmare for American tourists after an innocent mistake.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
