A 45-year-old Florida grandmother finally returned home last Thursday following her February arrest and detainment in the British Overseas Territory of Turks and Caicos after authorities found stray bullets in the lining of her luggage.
According to Fox News, Sharitta Grier was among five Americans who were detained on the islands for possessing ammunition. They had all been detained since February. She received a 23-week suspended sentence and was fined $1,500.
“I’m happy. I’m overwhelmed,” Grier told reporters after she arrived in Orlando. The 45-year-old also said she was looking forward to hanging out with her family and eating “good food.”
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Grier and her four other compatriots were returning home from their vacations when they were arrested in February. And though she expressed her satisfaction with how the case turned out, she said she does not intend to revisit Turks and Caicos. The four other Americans were similarly fined and handed suspended sentences. They were also allowed to return home.
Grier in the wake of her arrest said that she had recently bought a firearm to protect herself. She also told Fox News that she occasionally closes her brother’s store at night and decided to arm herself in the event of an emergency.
“No intention to hurt anybody or anything. … I’m afraid of it myself. It’s nothing to play around with,” the 45-year-old said.
Prior to their release, Grier shared a rental home with two of her other detained compatriots. “It was important for her to have a room,” one of the detained Americans said about Grier at the time.
“After hearing her story and what she went through, being shackled to a chair and having to sleep on the floor … it’s heartbreaking. And we wanted to make sure that she had a safe place, a nice, comfortable bed to sleep in and have some privacy. There was no question, and it was a blessing for us to be able to bring Sharitta into the picture because we’re all … a support system for one another. It’s become a big family.”
