Brian Hegerich, a father of two from Pennsylvania, has been home for nearly two weeks after he was arrested and held for more than 100 days. Turks and Caicos He was prosecuted for having stray ammunition in his luggage at an airport on the island.
Like four other Americans arrested in the same case since February, Hegerich did not know he had ammunition in his suitcase as he prepared to return home from a vacation with his family, but was forced to plead guilty to a minimum amount. A sentence of 12 years was given for this crime.
A judge eventually ordered the 39-year-old former baseball pro to pay a $6,500 fine and allowed him to return home. Now, Haegerich is speaking out about the lack of support from the State Department and what he describes as “anti-American sentiment” among TCI government officials — though he says locals went out of their way to be kind and helpful.
“The State Department did not contact me when I was detained for over two months, I think it was over 70 days. The one time I was initially contacted, it was when this story had gotten national media attention,” Haegerich told Fox News Digital. “…The one person (with the State Department) who came to the island, it felt like more or less a check-the-box-type exercise. It was very clear in their minds that we had committed a crime. We should essentially go to jail for this.”
Brian Hegerich is greeted by his family as he arrives in Pittsburgh, PA on Friday, May 24, 2024. Hegerich was detained in Turks and Caicos after loose ammunition was found in his luggage and was deported back to the US on a suspended sentence. (Matthew Simmons for Fox News Digital)
Hegerich also recalled a US State Department official joking, “Why don’t you guys get on a boat? If you get to American soil, they’ll have to let you back in.”
“Why don’t you guys get on the boat? If you get to American soil they’ll have to let you back in.”
Hegerich said the way the department handled their situation “raises the question”: “Which side are they on? Are they on the US side or the Turks’ side?”
“They really had nothing to offer,” he said.
Brian Hegerich is a 39-year-old former baseball player and father of two from Pennsylvania. (Handout for family)
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that there is no higher priority for the department, as well as U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, than the safety of American citizens abroad.
The spokesperson said that whenever a US citizen is detained in a foreign country, the State Department seeks immediate access to that person.
The spokesperson said that when a US citizen is arrested abroad, the State Department stands ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. He said that when US citizens travel in a foreign country, they are generally subject to the laws of that country, even if those laws differ from the laws of the United States.
Brian Hegerich is greeted by his family as he arrives back in Pittsburgh, PA on Friday, May 24, 2024. Hegerich was detained in Turks and Caicos after loose ammunition was found in his luggage and was deported back to the US on a suspended sentence. (Matthew Simmons for Fox News Digital)
For privacy reasons, the department did not comment further on the Americans recently arrested in Turks and Caicos.
Hegerich also raised issues about “anti-American sentiment” on the part of TCI officials overseeing his case. He said prosecutors compared him to an American murderer and Brittney Griner.
“They need to take a different approach to solving this problem.”
“Honestly, they’re doing a better job of catching American fathers, American mothers, grandmothers than they are catching their own people (who commit crimes),” Haegrich said. “Looking back and considering the domestic violence they had on the island, they needed a different approach to solving it. I can honestly say 95% of the people who worked on the island were extremely supportive of us.”
Florida woman becomes fifth American detained in Turks and Caicos for carrying ammunition
Five other Americans have been arrested in Turks and Caicos since February for allegedly having pills in their luggage. Two, including Ryan Watson of Oklahoma and Sharita Grier of Florida, still face sentencing.
Five Americans have been arrested since February for allegedly carrying ammunition into airports in Turks and Caicos. Left to right: Michael Lee Evans (no photo), Brian Hegerich, Tyler Weinrich, Ryan Watson and Sharita Grier. (Turks and Caicos Police/Dimitrios Kambouris)
One day, while checking in at the police station, a local officer told Hegerich, “I can’t believe you’re still here. This is extortion. This is political,” Hegerich recalled.
“We went on vacation. Our biggest concern was making sure the kids had swimsuits, puddle jumpers and sunscreen,” Hegerich said. “It wasn’t looking for travel alerts. I didn’t believe we were going to a place where we would feel unsafe.”
Michael Weinrich, a father from Virginia, was also arrested for having gunpowder in his luggage — in his case, just two stray bullets that fell into the lining of his bag. He was released last week and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
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“There’s still so much crime on the island that it’s clear that this is not deterring people,” Weinrich said. “So, I think it would benefit tourists and islanders if they could reevaluate the laws for cases where people don’t intend to commit a criminal act.”
Unlike Hegerich, Weinrich said he was immediately put in touch with the State Department as soon as he was taken into custody, because his father reached out on his behalf.
Tyler Weinrich and his family pose with Rep. Bob Good as they return to Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Weinrich was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine for unknowingly having ammunition in his luggage while visiting the islands. (Photo: Fox News Digital)
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“As the process went on, they kept in touch. I felt we had to do more to help them,” he said of the department. “I was fortunate to have one of my deputies present at my sentencing argument hearing, which was nice, so they could see how the process goes and hear the arguments and understand how chaotic the courtroom can be. I don’t know what they did behind the scenes.”
Both Hegerich and Weinrich thanked state and federal lawmakers, as well as their friends and family back home, for helping them get there.
