A Turks and Caicos judge on Thursday handed down a sentence for the fifth and latest American arrested in Turks and Caicos for having ammunition in their luggage since the beginning of the year.
Sharitta Grier, a 45-year-old mother and grandmother from Florida, received a 23-week suspended sentence and must pay a $1,500 fine. She is expected to arrive home in Florida on Thursday night.
She was one of five Americans arrested since February on the islands while coming home from their vacations for the same crime, including Bryan Hagerich, 39, of Pennsylvania; Ryan Watson, 40, of Oklahoma; Tyler Wenrich, 31, of Virginia; and Michael Lee Evans, 72, of Texas.
Security found ammo in all five Americans’ bags as they were traveling home from the islands. Now, all five have been allowed to return home after getting suspended sentences and being ordered to pay fines.
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Ryan Watson, Sharitta Grier and Bryan Hagerich pictured together in Turks and Caicos. (Handout)
Grier was arrested in May for having stray bullets in the lining of her bag after she recently purchased a firearm for her own protection. She previously told Fox News Digital in May that her brother owns a store that she sometimes closes at night and wanted a firearm in case of an emergency.
“No intention to hurt anybody or anything. … I’m afraid of it myself. It’s nothing to play around with,” Grier said, adding that she “had no other reason” to own a gun other than for her own protection while closing her brother’s store.
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Five Americans have been arrested in Turks and Caicos since February for carrying ammo in airports on the island. From left to right: Michael Lee Evans (no photo), Bryan Hagerich, Tyler Wenrich, Ryan Watson and Sharitta Grier. (Turks and Caicos Police/ Dimitrios Kambouris )
She added that she has never fired a gun in her life.
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After her arrest, Grier temporarily lived in a rental home with Watson and Hagerich.
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The trio spoke together with Fox News Digital via Zoom and shared how they had become friends over their weeks on the islands awaiting justice.
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“It was important for her to have a room,” Watson said of Grier at the time. “After hearing her story and what she went through, being shackled to a chair and having to sleep on the floor … it’s heartbreaking. And we wanted to make sure that she had a safe place, a nice, comfortable bed to sleep in and have some privacy. There was no question, and it was a blessing for us to be able to bring Sharitta into the picture because we’re all … a support system for one another. It’s become a big family.”
