Oklahoma man jailed in Turks & Caicos for stray ammo writes book about ordeal

Ryan Watson, arrested in Turks & Caicos after four rounds of ammunition were found in his bag, has published a book about his 70-day imprisonment.

Watson breaks silence on Turks & Caicos ammunition arrest in new memoir

Ryan Watson of Edmond, Oklahoma, spent 70 days imprisoned in Turks and Caicos after four leftover rounds of hunting ammunition were discovered in a carry-on bag during what was meant to be a birthday holiday. Nearly two years on, Watson has written a book about the experience — Turks and Chaos — which went on sale Tuesday. He and his wife Valerie appeared on News 9 that morning to discuss the ordeal.

Watson was arrested, sentenced to a 13-week suspended sentence and fined $2,000. The case attracted international attention, prompted revised security procedures at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, and drew intervention from U.S. lawmakers including Senator Markwayne Mullin and Representative Josh Brecheen, who acted on behalf of Americans detained over ammunition violations in the territory.

According to News 9, Watson said the book was primarily intended as a record for his children and for the supporters who followed the case without knowing its full details.

"It was important for us to have something to give our kids that was just a reminder that there was a purpose for our family's struggle," Watson said. "There were so many people that supported us that had no idea what was truly going on. We felt like we owed it to them to give them all of the detail that was truly going on behind all the headlines."

The bag belonged to his wife

One of the more significant disclosures in the book concerns the bag itself. Watson confirmed that while the ammunition was his, it was found inside a bag belonging to his wife Valerie — not his own. The couple, he said, deliberately coordinated their accounts to ensure she would not face prosecution alongside him.

"It became pretty clear to us in the initial interrogation that they were gunning to put both of us in prison for 12 years," Watson said. "As a husband, you vowed to protect your wife at all costs. And that was just something that I was not going to let happen."

When the couple was temporarily released on bail, Watson said they used the time to align their statements so Valerie could return home to their children. He described rehearsing a line of questioning with her to prepare her account: "I would question her, why were there bullets in your bag? How did you have no idea that they were in there? Did you not ever access the bag? And it was something that we had to perfect."

Faith and "survivor's guilt"

Watson said the prospect of a 12-year sentence was emotionally exhausting, but that his religious faith sustained him throughout.

"It was something that I was willing to submit to if that was truly God's plan for me," he said. "If he needed me to go share the gospel with somebody in prison, I was willing to do it. But at the end of the day, if there was an opportunity to fight to get back home to my family, I was going to do everything I could."

Valerie Watson described her own emotional struggle after returning home without her husband.

"I'm home, and he's not. And I knew that we both could have been in that situation very easily," she said. She credited support from her church, school community, family and friends with helping her through it: "We were very supported, and we had a lot of love and encouragement coming from all over."

Children's response inspired community mission

Watson said his children's faith also deepened during the ordeal. His son, having saved his own money, told his mother he wanted to use it to send a Bible to a child in Turks and Caicos. The idea spread through the neighbourhood and beyond.

"One thing led to another. The neighborhood found out about his mission to get a Bible to the island, and it spread. And next thing you know, he equipped an entire school. I think there were over 350 Bibles that were sent to the island," Watson said.

Watson told his children he could not guarantee he would make it home, but made them one promise: "The one thing I could guarantee them was that I would glorify God every step of the way, and I asked them and challenged them to do the same thing."

Senator Mullin, one of the lawmakers who intervened in Watson's case, wrote the foreword to the book. Turks and Chaos is currently available on Amazon. The Watsons are scheduled to hold a book signing this Saturday.

Source: Google News TC — Crime