A Pennsylvania man arrived at the Pittsburgh airport Friday night after he was released from custody on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), where he had been detained for having ammunition in his luggage.

Bryan Hagerich — a 39-year-old husband, father of two and former professional baseball player — is one of five Americans arrested and detained on the islands since February for having stray ammunition in their luggage, a crime punishable up to 12 years on the islands.

The other detained Americans are Ryan Watson, 40, of Oklahoma; Sharitta Grier, 45, of Florida; Tyler Wenrich, 31, of Virginia; and Michael Lee Evans, 72, of Texas.

“Its just amazing how, just in the matter of 12 hours, looking at 12 years to now,” Hagerich told reporters Friday night after he landed in Pittsburgh. “My biggest concern is coaching my kids’ baseball games tomorrow, and that is such a relief.”

PENNSYLVANIA DAD DETAINED IN TURKS AND CAICOS TO RETURN HOME AFTER PAYING FINE FOR HAVING AMMO IN LUGGAGE

Hagerich said his detention was the “hardest time of my life” being separated from his family.

“As a father, as a provider, and to not be that figure in my family’s life, it’s a very tough pill to swallow,” he said.

He said the conditions of his detention were “tough” and the “darkest days” of his life. And while he said he is thankful to be home, he stressed that there are other Americans still in detention on the islands who he said “will be home soon.”

A Turks and Caicos judge issued a suspended 52-month sentence Friday morning to Hagerich, who pleaded guilty to possessing ammunition on the islands. He was also ordered to pay a $6,500 fine.

Hagerich told Fox News Digital on Thursday that he and his attorneys “made a very, very strong case” in his defense after he pleaded guilty.

Several lawmakers applauded the move to release Hagerich from custody on the islands, allowing him to return to his family in Pennsylvania. A bipartisan congressional delegation had visited TCI on Monday to urge government leaders to release the Americans detained for having stray ammunition in their bags.

AMERICANS ARRESTED IN TURKS AND CAICOS BUNK, PRAY TOGETHER WHILE AWAITING SENTENCINGS: ‘A BIG FAMILY’

Bryan Hagerich was detained in Turks and Caicos after having loose ammo in his luggage and was released back to the U.S. on a suspended sentence on Friday. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)

“This is great news,” U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said in a statement. “Bryan is coming home to his family. It was an honor to meet Bryan and the other detained Americans in TCI this week.”

“When we met with TCI officials a few days ago, they made clear they wanted this situation resolved,” Fetterman continued. “They recognized that Bryan and the other detained Americans are not gunrunners — they are just people who made a mistake. I’m grateful that the judge recognized that the right thing to do was to send Bryan home. I’m also grateful to the U.S. State Department which has been a critical partner in bringing Bryan home.”

Fetterman also said he is hopeful that TCI expedites the other cases of detained Americans so they can also be released soon and return to their families.

Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Guy Reschenthaler said while he is “overjoyed” to see Hagerich is returning to Pennsylvania and reuniting with his wife and children, “this terrifying situation should have never happened to him, or the four other Americans still awaiting sentencing.”

“As the Turks and Caicos government works to handle future cases, the British territory must ensure the safety and wellbeing of U.S. tourists. I won’t rest until Americans can once again set foot on their islands without putting their livelihoods at risk,” the congressional representative said.

FLORIDA WOMAN BECOMES 5TH AMERICAN DETAINED IN TURKS AND CAICOS FOR CARRYING AMMO

Bryan Hagerich arrived at the Pittsburgh airport Friday night after he was released from custody on the Turks and Caicos Islands. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)

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Hagerich said Friday night he is “forever grateful” for lawmakers’ efforts advocating for his release, including the delegation that visited the islands.

“Never in a thousand years did I expect that kind of support,” Hagerich said.

The cases of the five Americans have slight differences, but all five were arrested while traveling home after security detected ammunition in their luggage.

Hagerich had stray ammunition from a previous hunting trip in one of the compartments of a large suitcase his family had loaded their belongings into for a family vacation. 

Watson had stray ammunition, also left over from a hunting trip, in the lining of his carry-on bag. Grier had stray bullets in the lining of her bag after she recently purchased a firearm for her own protection.

Wenrich has similarly said he had no intention of bringing bullets onto the islands and had no idea he had two bullets in his travel backpack until security found them.

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.

GREENCASTLE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — For anyone who’s ever been in the market for a new home, you know the process of touring houses can be exhausting and overwhelming.

Well, that’s usually the case unless Trenton Miller of Greencastle, Pennsylvania is your realtor.

The 19-year-old got into real estate about a year ago and has been making waves. Action News’ Sarah Bloomquist spoke with the teen about his viral speed tours.

He said he kept seeing boring tour videos online and on social media apps like TikTok, so he decided to switch it up.

Miller has used the ‘speedy’ approach to his tour videos, each sprinkled with some humor.

Some have said his style is very Gen X.

Miller agreed, saying, “Some realtors take everything too seriously and I believe people are wanting a change.”

He also said being a realtor at just 19 years old can be difficult. People are skeptical of his age, but he says he’s determined to do the work.

Since his speed tours started, he says business has exploded with millions of views converting clicks into clients.

WASHINGTON D.C. — A Pennsylvania judge today rejected a request from Centre County GOP Chair Michelle Schellberg and local voters to disqualify nearly 100 mail-in ballots cast in the state’s April 23 primary election with misdated or undated outer envelopes. 

The ruling comes as part of a lawsuit filed earlier this month in which Schellberg and individual voters alleged that the Centre County Board of Elections wrongly decided to include 95 ballots in the county’s vote tally with dates that were imprecise or missing altogether. The lawsuit additionally sought to prevent the board from counting undated or misdated mail-in ballots in all future elections.

In today’s order, Judge Julia R. Rater dismissed the county GOP’s legal action on the grounds that Schellberg and the voters filed their petition too late after the board’s April 25 decision to count the 95 undated or misdated ballots. Without reaching the merits of the case, Rater concluded that under state law, the petitioners would have needed to file their appeal of the board’s decision by April 27 or May 2 at the very latest. 

“The Appeal was not filed until May 7, 2024. As such, it is untimely,” Rater’s order reads. 

 Although the 95 contested ballots did not stand to materially affect Centre County’s primary election outcomes, they nonetheless resulted in the county postponing certification of its results as the litigation played out. Following today’s ruling, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt (D) is expected to certify the statewide primary election results — a process that was held up due to Centre County’s certification delay.  

According to the now-dismissed GOP lawsuit, a 2022 decision from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and 2023 decision from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals preclude Pennsylvania counties from counting mail-in ballots with outer return envelopes that are undated or incorrectly dated. 

On the other hand, the Centre County Board of Elections argued that the “Pennsylvania Supreme Court left untouched the county boards of elections’ authority to determine whether a ballot’s outer envelope is correctly dated.” 

The board also maintained that Schellberg and her co-petitioners brought their legal action too late after its members decided to count the ballots, thereby foreclosing the challenge under state law. In addition to agreeing with this argument in today’s order, Rater maintained that “even if Petitioners’ Appeal could be construed as a petition for an election contest”— as opposed to an appeal of the board’s decision — “it would be fatally deficient leaving the Court without jurisdiction to decide the matter.”

Rater further acknowledged the urgency of finalizing the state’s certification of its primary election results, reasoning that she must dismiss the appeal so as to “avoid any confusion or potential further delays.” In an amicus brief in support of the Centre County Board of Elections, Schmidt and the Pennsylvania Department of State previously urged the court to dismiss the petition in order to allow the secretary to “perform his duty and finally certify the 2024 primary.” 

Centre County was not the only Pennsylvania County beset by legal challenges over mail-in ballots in the wake of the state’s April 23 primary. Litigation is ongoing in a case out of Butler County, where the board of elections refused to allow voters to cure mail-in ballots that were missing inner secrecy envelopes. 

Read the order here.

Learn more about the case here.