TWO of the five American prisoners have been released and are now back home on U.S. soil.
Bryan Hagerich: The judge found exceptional circumstances in his case and that the mandatory minimum of 12 years was unjust and disproportionate to the crime committed. He
sentenced Hagerich to a suspended 52-week sentence and a fine of $6,700, which he paid. Then Hagerich was given his passport and returned to the United States without serving the sentence.
He arrived back in Pennsylvania late last Friday, hugging his kids at the airport.
Later, in an interview with legal expert, Dan Abrams, on News Nation, when asked what Hagerich thought was the reason for his release, Hagerich said he believes it was due to the "talk" that the U.S. bipartisan delegation had with the government leaders in Turks and Caicos last Monday. A senator from each state of the five U.S. prisoners went. He thinks the delegation also pointed out that an island whose main source of income is in tourism, wouldn't want to lose all the American tourists.
Hagerich also mentioned that some T&C residents told him that it was basically a shake down for money.
Tyler Wenrich, from Richmond, VA, was sentenced to a three-week prison sentence. Since that's coincidentally how long he had been in prison, the judge changed the
sentence to time served, and fined Wenrich an additional $9,000. He paid that and went home last Thursday.