American Citizen Bryan Hagerich Released from Turks and Caicos After Ammunition Charge

Bryan Hagerich, a Pennsylvania man, has been released from custody in the Turks and Caicos Islands after pleading guilty to possessing ammunition on the islands and being sentenced to a suspended 52-month sentence.

Bryan Hagerich, a Pennsylvania man, has been released from custody in the Turks and Caicos Islands after pleading guilty to possessing ammunition on the islands. He was sentenced to a suspended 52-month sentence and ordered to pay a $6,500 fine.

Hagerich was one of five Americans arrested and detained on the islands since February for having stray ammunition in their luggage, a crime punishable up to 12 years on the islands. The other detained Americans are Ryan Watson, 40, of Oklahoma; Sharitta Grier, 45, of Florida; Tyler Wenrich, 31, of Virginia; and Michael Lee Evans, 72, of Texas.

Hagerich's release comes after a bipartisan congressional delegation visited the Turks and Caicos Islands on Monday to urge government leaders to release the Americans detained for having stray ammunition in their bags.

"This is great news," U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said in a statement. "Bryan is coming home to his family. It was an honor to meet Bryan and the other detained Americans in TCI this week."

"When we met with TCI officials a few days ago, they made clear they wanted this situation resolved," Fetterman continued. "They recognized that Bryan and the other detained Americans are not gunrunners — they are just people who made a mistake. I'm grateful that the judge recognized that the right thing to do was to send Bryan home. I'm also grateful to the U.S. State Department which has been a critical partner in bringing Bryan home."

Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Guy Reschenthaler said while he is "overjoyed" to see Hagerich is returning to Pennsylvania and reuniting with his wife and children, "this terrifying situation should have never happened to him, or the four other Americans still awaiting sentencing."

"As the Turks and Caicos government works to handle future cases, the British territory must ensure the safety and wellbeing of U.S. tourists. I won’t rest until Americans can once again set foot on their islands without putting their livelihoods at risk," the congressional representative said.

The cases of the five Americans have slight differences, but all five were arrested while traveling home after security detected the ammunition in their luggage.

Hagerich had stray ammunition from a previous hunting trip in one of the compartments of a large suitcase his family had loaded their belongings into for a family vacation. Watson had stray ammunition, also left over from a hunting trip, in the lining of his carry-on bag. Grier had stray bullets in the lining of her bag after she recently purchased a firearm for her own protection.

Wenrich has similarly said he had no intention of bringing bullets onto the islands and had no idea he had two bullets in his travel backpack until security found them.

Fox News' Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.