A judge in the Turks and Caicos Islands on Thursday handed down sentence to the fifth and latest American arrested in the Turks and Caicos Islands since the beginning of the year for having ammunition in his luggage.
Shalitta Greer, a 45-year-old mother and grandmother from Florida, received a 23-week suspended sentence and must pay a $1,500 fine. She is due to return to her Florida home on Thursday night.
“I was shocked. I was totally shocked. I couldn’t believe it,” Greer told local news reporter Wilkie Arthur. Magnetic Media She added after the sentencing hearing that she was “afraid” she would face the mandatory 12-year sentence for tourists accused of bringing ammunition onto the island.
She is one of five Americans arrested for the same crime on the island since February while returning from vacation; the others being Brian Hagerich, 39, of Pennsylvania; Ryan Watson, 40, of Oklahoma; Tyler Wenrich, 31, of Virginia; and Michael Lee Evans, 72, of Texas.
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Ryan Watson, Shalitta Greer and Brian Hagerich pictured together in Turks and Caicos. (Handouts)
Greer told Arthur that the first thing he plans to do when he returns to his Florida home is to hug his grandchildren and “eat soul food.”
Guards found ammunition in the bags of all five Americans as they were returning from the island. All five were given suspended sentences, ordered to pay fines and then allowed to return home.
Greer was arrested in May after finding a stray bullet in the lining of his bag after recently purchasing a gun for self-defense. Greer told Fox News Digital in May that his brother owns a store that sometimes closes at night, and that he wanted a gun in case of an emergency.
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Five Americans have been arrested at the airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands since February for smuggling ammunition: (From left) Michael Lee Evans (not pictured), Brian Hagerich, Tyler Wenrich, Ryan Watson and Shalitta Greer. (Turks and Caicos Islands Police/Dimitrios Kambouris)
“I had no intention of hurting anybody or anything. It’s something I’m scared of myself. It’s not something to joke about,” Greer said, adding that he had “no reason” to own a gun other than to protect himself while closing down his brother’s store.
She added that she had never fired a gun in her life.
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After his arrest, Greer temporarily lived in a rented home with Watson and Hagerich.
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Speaking together to Fox News Digital via Zoom, the three described how they became friends during their weeks on the island waiting for justice.
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“It was important for her to have a room,” Watson said of Greer at the time. “Hearing her story and what she went through, being tied to a chair and having to sleep on the floor…it’s heartbreaking. We wanted to make sure she had a safe place, a comfortable bed to sleep in and privacy. There was no question. We were lucky to be able to include Shalitta in this plan because we all…support each other. We’ve become one big family.”
