Georgia father of three faces 15 years in a Jamaican prison after TSA missed the loaded magazines he forgot.
Igor Andrusceak, a small-business owner from Athens, Georgia, spent nearly two years saving with his wife for their first family trip out of the country with their three children, including their 1-year-old daughter.
He carefully emptied his backpack before the flight. He removed his everyday-carry gun, a pocketknife, and even the nail clippers. He thought the bag was clean.
It wasn’t. Two loaded magazines with 30 rounds total were still hidden in a mesh pocket.
TSA at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport cleared the bag with no issues. The family made it to Jamaica and had what Andrusceak called a “beautiful vacation.”
On July 28, as they prepared to fly home from Montego Bay, authorities found the magazines. He was initially told he was free to go, then arrested at the gate.
He was taken to the Freeport Police Station jail — a concrete cell with no glass on the doors, a hole in the floor for a toilet, and a concrete pad to sleep on. His attorney had to pay the guards just so he could get drinking water.
In court the judge was bound by Jamaica’s mandatory minimum.
“The judge tearfully was like, ‘It’s a foolish law, but I can’t. I have to abide by our law, and I can only do 15 years minimum,’” Andrusceak told 11Alive.
“At which point my whole world came crashing down. My 1-year-old — imagine her being 16 when I see her again. That was a very sobering moment.”
He later said, “I put my family through a very traumatic experience… I feel foolish. Like, you understand how bad I felt for making that mistake.”
Andrusceak was released on bond and allowed to return to Georgia, but he must still face the charge. He is now selling possessions, including his motorcycle, to cover legal costs and says, “I’m fearful of going back.”
A hardworking father who made one honest packing mistake is staring down more than a decade in a foreign prison while his wife and three children wait for him at home.
This never should have left American soil.
#TSAFail #BringHimHome
Potentially taking someone's life because you're eyes aren't good enough is worse.
Perfectly reasonable to be asked to take an eye test to prove that you can see.
You pass, crack on.
If his granddaughter was run over by Mr Magoo I am sure he might think differently.
🚘 'Keeping older people like me off the road in the name of safety would be devastating – we’d lose so much pride and independence'
Read Richard Henderson's story ⬇️
https://t.co/52I6TecoxA