Bryan Hagerich, a Pennsylvania-based father of two who faced up to 12 years in prison for bringing ammunition into Turks and Caicos, avoided an extensive prison sentence and will be allowed to return to the U.S. after paying a fine.
On Friday, a judge announced Hagerich's suspended 52-week sentence and $6,700 fine.
Upon the fine's payment, Hagerich will have his passport returned and will be allowed to go back to the United States without serving the sentence, after he pleaded guilty to possession of 20 rounds of ammunition, according to ABC News.
Hagerich was faced with a potential 12-year sentence – the minimum penalty for possessing guns or ammunition under the country's stringent gun laws aimed at curbing rising crime and gang violence. Nevertheless, Judge Tanya Lobban Jackson determined there were exceptional circumstances and concluded that the mandatory 12-year minimum was unjust and disproportionate to the offense, after Hagerich unintentionally brought the ammo to the islands during a family vacation in February.
Citing Hagerich's lack of a criminal background and the effect his imprisonment would have on his daughter, Jackson advised the defendant to "be more careful" before freeing him.
"This is a huge relief," Hagerich's dad said following the sentencing hearing, NBC News reported.
Hagerich previously called his arrest "some of the darkest, hardest times of my life," according to CBS News.
