American Bryan Hagerich ‘ammo’ case deemed “Exceptional Circumstance” by Supreme Court Justice

Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

#TurksandCaicos, May 29, 2024 – Excited to bring his criminal ammunition proceedings to an end in the Turks and Caicos Islands(TCI), the now convicted and sentenced BRIAN HAGERTICH has left the country in a rushed to and through the same Howard Hamilton Providenciales International Airport where he was stopped from leaving, after having been arrested in February of this year.

As outlined by the learned Hon. Lady Justice of the TCI Supreme Court, Tanya Lobban Jackson, as she delivered her written judgment or sentencing remarks against American citizen BRIAN HAGERTICH for being in possession of a box of 20 rounds of lethal hunting ammunition.

The judge said that these were expedited hearings on an application made by HAGERICH’S defense team, Mr. Oliver Smith KC, and his assistant Mrs. Kimone Tennant.

Magnetic Media can confirm, as we do follow the majority of local firearms and/or ammunition proceedings here in the TCI, that cases of this nature normally run in most instances two or more years before it reaches a trial and even where there is a guilty plea, sometimes the same amount of time before the case concludes.

Something that stood out to the sitting media in waiting and the packed courtroom was – moments before the judge came out – the family, friends, the visiting HAGERICH family attorney and all the other American defendants with their friends and families in the courtroom joined hands, forming an impressive circle began to pray to Almighty God in the name of Jesus Christ.

It was a teary-eyed moment for Hagerich’s wife, mother and father when he prayed and hugged his wife and left them to go into the defendant’s dock just before the “ALL RISE” was announced by the court officer for the arrival of her Ladyship Ms. Tanya Lobban Jackson.

You could have sensed, felt, and seen that the embrace shared between BRYAN HAGERICH and his wife was cherished as possibly the last hug for a long time if the Judge was to send him to prison today. It was very emotional and extremely touching for all that looked on.

Upon arrival of the judge, she sat with her normally stern but pleasant face and began to deliver her verdict on sentencing. The reading lasted a near hour.  Lobban-Jackson first touched on a constitutional point raised by the defense, and then she moved on to exceptional circumstances, then the accused’s mitigating circumstances and then her actual sentence.

Magnetic Media will outline more details into the immediate above paragraph in a subsequent report.

However, as it relates to the sentencing of BRIAN HAGERICH, the Court had reached a starting point of a total of 18 months straight custody time with a $10,000.00 fine and an additional one year in default of payment.

The justice said that would amount to $500.00 per bullet.

Then Justice Lobban-Jackson said, this was reduced having considered many factors, including, HAGERICH being a licensed firearms holder in his home state, having no criminal record in his home state, a number of great character references from people of high standing in his community and many other considerable factors.

She then, therefore, ordered the 18 months imprisonment to be reduced to 52 weeks imprisonment suspended, and the $10,000 fine reduced to $6,700.00 or one year imprisonment.

The suspended sentence for HAGERICH meant, although he plead guilty of the crime, he is not sentenced to spend time in prison but could be sentenced for that crime in future if he were to commit any other offence in the Turks and Caicos; a circumstance which is highly unlikely especially given he was a tourist visiting the islands, now returned to his home of Pennsylvania, USA.