U.S. Citizens Facing Lengthy Jail Time For Accidentally Taking Firearms Into Mexico
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Maya Morsi and her boyfriend Eddy had been waiting in the holding area for hours. They were confused, hungry—eager to be on their way to their vacation spot in the city of Rocky Point on the Gulf of California in Mexico.
Morsi could see the sun setting through the window in the prosecutor’s office, not far from Arizona’s southern border. She glanced at her Cartier expensive watch and then at her ankle-length metal shackles.
She wondered: “Wound up the prosecutor?” He should have been there by now.
Eddy sat silently in a small cell without running water in the adjacent room.
It was supposed to be a romantic getaway for the young couple from Scottsdale, Arizona—not a one-way trip through Mexico’s convoluted legal system.
They were told by the military police officers who had arrested them that they needed to meet with the local prosecution to face charges. Maybe they’d pay a fine, and be back on the road in a few hours.
Morsi claimed that none of these things happened.
The couple’s nightmare began the moment they saw the flashing red light on the Mexican side of the international border near Lukeville, Arizona, which signaled them to pull over to undergo a random vehicle inspection.
Fortunately, Eddy spoke Spanish.
“They asked us to get out of the car. No problem,” Morsi stated. “The first thing I saw when I got out of the car was my gun under the seat. I’m thinking, ‘Oh, that’s probably not a good idea.’”
Untold Numbers of Americans Get Caught Out
Morsi said the 9mm Glock was the registered firearm she’d kept for the past nine years for its sentimental value.
The couple told The Epoch Times they did not know about Mexico’s strict gun laws. The Mexican authorities saw no reason to believe that the couple was ignorant of the law.
Every year, many Americans end up in the same position. Many are sentenced to long jail terms and fines for having illegal firearms in Mexico. And while getting arrested with a firearm at the border is easy, getting out of trouble and back home is not.
Often, the process can take months and cost thousands of dollars wading through Mexico’s complex bureaucratic court system.
The U.S. State Department states that American citizens are subject in Mexico to local laws, with often severe consequences for violating them.
“If someone violates local law, even unknowingly, they may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned,” A spokesperson for the State Department spoke on background.
“This includes prohibitions on firearms.”
Accidental Border Crossing
Nearly 180,000 gun owners are registered in Arizona, where open and concealed firearms are legal. A firearm can be used to accidentally cross the border.
An Arizona resident explained how easy it was for him to get caught up in the travel lane at the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s (CBP) port of entry in San Luis, Arizona, by accident.
Once he was in the line, there was no other way.
It was January at midnight. He said that he was travelling along the US95 Southbound when he saw white cones merge into a single travel lanes leading to the port entry.
“I had no intention of going to the port of entry or Mexico. No signs were directing me where to turn or pull off to the side if I went too far or changed my mind,” The resident stated.
According to the resident, his only option was to continue with traffic flow and pray that the Mexican border agents would understand.
He showed one border agent his Arizona driver’s license and two other forms of ID.
The heavily armed, masked agent did not speak English. The agent then spoke briefly in Spanish to his superior before waving the driver into San Luis Mexico.
On June 5, 2006, cars headed to Mexico via the border crossing at San Luis (Arizona), in the United States. Every day, thousands cross the border from Mexico to work on the U.S. side. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)Underneath a pile of papers on the front passenger seat of the resident’s car was a loaded .22-caliber long rifle Beretta handgun the agents had failed to notice.
The resident drove for 20 minutes around San Luis in search of the port of entry to the United States.
All signs were written in Spanish, however.
“Finally, I saw a sign in English welcoming me to the United States,” He said.
He explained to CBP agents how he ended up in Mexico at the checkpoint. When asked about firearms, he replied, “yes.”
The resident was led into a holding place by several border agents and placed in handcuffs.
A Mexican agent assured the resident that he was not under arrest and would not face charges in the United States. However, he said that the Mexican authorities had not searched his vehicle.
“Did you tell them about the firearm?”
“No,” The resident stated.
“Good.”
The Douglas, Arizona, border crossing, US/Mexico border, as seen from AguaPrieta (Sonora), on February 18, 2017. (Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images)Knowing the strict Mexican laws regarding firearms is a great help in hindsight. “I’d probably be sitting in a Mexican prison right now,” The Epoch Times was informed by the resident.
Tania Pavlak, the public affairs specialist for the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, said getting stuck in the line of border traffic from San Luis, Arizona, into Mexico happens often.
It happened about two years ago.
“I was trying to find a business,” Pavlak spoke. “As I was driving around and searching for the address, I took the street that takes you down to the border. The next thing I knew, I was behind cars, and there were cars behind me. I’m like, ‘What? Wait.’”
“Clear signage could prevent that. And also a last-minute ‘out’ area. Because it was like block after block [of cones], I expected a barricade not to be there or an area to turn into—nope.”
Pavlak decided to get out of her car and move the traffic cone out of her way. She then maneuvered her car to the far left into a business lot to replace the cone.
“I decided I was not going to go [to Mexico],” Pavlak spoke to The Epoch Times.
Antonio Harrison, Gilbert, Arizona, stated that Drew, his son, was on a trip with his fiancee, when their vehicle was stopped at the Arizona southern frontier, in Lukeville in May 2022.
Drew didn’t realize until too late that he had accidentally left an AK-47 (a handgun for target shooters) and ammunition in the car.
Antonio claimed Drew faces up to 15 year imprisonment if convicted on weapon charges. He is currently awaiting the disposition of his case at a federal maximum-security prison in Hermosillo.
His fiancee won’t be facing charges
“Even when he got to the border, it didn’t click that he had guns,” Antonio said. “We expected to see both of them coming out together.”
Drew, 33, has been stuck in prison since Mother’s Day.
“It took me almost two months before my paperwork was approved to go and see him,” Antonio said. “He’s broken down. It’s like, ‘Dad, I thought I’d be out of here by now. What’s going on?’”
Karen from Tucson said that Mexican authorities stopped her vehicle randomly at a border crossing near Douglas, Arizona, on Christmas Eve.
Police found small quantities of rifles in the Hummer’s trunk.
“There were three of them, I came to find out,” Karen said. “It was an odd situation. I didn’t know the guns were in there.”
Since Fleeing, In Hiding
The rifles belonged to Karen’s friend, who loaned Karen the use of the Hummer to cross the border to buy cigarettes in Mexico for less money.
“I was in a hurry,” Karen said. “I jumped in the Hummer and hit it to the Border Patrol station. The red light went off, and they sent me to a secondary” Mexico Holding Facility
Karen stated that she was considering two to three years imprisonment for illegal weapon charges. After her boyfriend posted her bond, she fled Mexico.
Since then, she has been hiding.
It’s a common but false mindset among Americans, Karen said. Before her arrest she believed that traveling through Mexico was easy as traveling across America, and that the two countries were almost identical in most aspects.
She soon discovered stark differences in the United States’s approach to its citizenship. “common law” and Mexico’s “Napoleonic law,” Where the accused is found guilty, until proven innocent.
Karen explained that it often takes less time and costs less money to plead guilty in most cases and accept any sentence that the judge has imposed.
Antonio Harrison stated that money, influence connections and even bribery are essential to quickly resolve criminal cases.
Long Prison Term
Drew, he said, is contemplating a long prison sentence for a crime that does not fall within the statutory punishment.
“He just had a newborn when this happened. He needed to get away on vacation. I said, ‘Cool, man. Go and enjoy yourself,” Antonio said.
On Mother’s Day, Drew’s father-in-law, a former U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent, called Antonio on the phone to deliver the news that Drew was in jail.
“You guys better get down here right away, to Hermosillo. Drew’s in trouble,” Antonio recalled him saying, and thought, “Where in the hell is Hermosillo?”
Drew is still in legal limbo, awaiting his sentence almost a year later.
“That’s what all these appeals are about,” Antonio said.
Each visit lasts for four hours and he visits his son once per month in prison. Drew can also make a weekly 10-minute phone call.
‘When They Smell Money’
“There are prosecutors—when they smell money, they’re not letting you go,” Harrison shared his thoughts with The Epoch Times when he placed pictures of Drew on a dining table.
“Listen, they don’t care if you’re innocent. They consider you guilty because you broke their law—and they know you have money. It’s like, ‘It’s time to pay.’”
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Alaska Department of Fish and Game), approximately 200 to 300 hunters from the United States are taken into custody and fined each year for failing to report firearms or other weapons at Canada’s border. Many arrests are not reported.
The State Department stated that it does not keep track on the number of Americans arrested and charged in Mexico with weapons violations.
However, one of the agency’s “highest priorities” To assist U.S. citizens detained outside of the United States.
“Weapons laws in Mexico vary by state, but it is illegal for travelers to carry weapons of any kind—including firearms and ammunition [even used shells]—without a permit from the Mexican government,” A spokesperson for the State Department said.
“Illegal firearms trafficking from the United States to Mexico is a significant concern, and the Department of State warns all U.S. citizens against taking any firearm or ammunition into Mexico.
Ira Beavers, Glendale, Arizona was sentenced to almost three years imprisonment after he allegedly forgot the 9mm Glock in the car when he crossed the Arizona border into Mexico. This happened on July 30, 2021.
Francine Nicholson (his wife) was also in that vehicle, but was not charged.
“Imagine going on vacation only not to make it to your destination and not to come home,” said Nicholson’s best friend, Deydra Stevenson, who set up a GoFundMe page and raised $15,480 to help pay Ira’s legal expenses.
Stevenson claimed that $7,500 was paid to an attorney hired by the U.S. consulate. However, Stevenson expected a completely different outcome. Ira spent 17 days and nine months in prison for the crime. “incompetence and dishonesty” Stevenson spoke out about the Mexican legal system.
“The court didn’t even allow Ira to bond out.”
Ira’s mother passed away while he was behind bars.
“Ira had never been in trouble a day in his life. He’s had a speeding ticket, and look at what happened. They treated him like a criminal. Somebody needs to put their foot down,” Stevenson said this to The Epoch Times.
‘In Prison For Same Thing’
Stevenson stated that she received over 100 emails from Americans who knew someone in Mexico imprisoned on a firearms offense.
“‘Call me, please! My brother is in prison for the same thing.’ It happens to me all the time,” Stevenson stated.
“I have so many people who have reached out to me. I try to help these people as much as I can.”
Stevenson said that money and close ties to people with access to resources help move the court process along whereas prisoners who don’t have these things are out of luck.
“That’s the key. If you have money, you’re good. If you don’t speak the language, you stay there for a long time. You have to know somebody. It’s who you know.”
Both Drew Harrison and Beavers are African-American. Stevenson believes they were arrested due to racial profiling.
“I think race had a lot to do with it,” Stevenson stated.
Stevenson had harsh words for Mexico’s legal system for the way it handled NASCAR driver Kyle Busch’s case after he was arrested and detained for taking a firearm into the country in January.
US Gun Permits Not Valid
Busch was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to more that three years in prison. He also received a $1,087 penalty.
It’s unknown how the system will impose Busch’s sentence to prison.
According to the State Department, anyone found in Mexico with ammunition or firearms could be subject to severe penalties and even prison time. The person being held should contact the Mexican authorities to inform the nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate. “or do so themselves if possible.”
The department’s role includes prison visits, providing information on how to find an attorney, contacting the detainee’s family and friends, and ensuring the incarcerated person receives humane treatment.
However, the agency cannot represent U.S. citizens in court, pay legal fees, or obtain a U.S. citizen’s release. The State Department stated that American gun permits are ineligible for Mexican use.
“They [the Mexican courts] make it very difficult to defend yourself. They make it difficult for a lawyer to go and talk to you in prison,” Eddy said. “You rely on outside resources like your family and your friends. I met people who didn’t have families, friends, or people to reach out to.”
Secure Release at $25,000
Eddy claimed that his February 2 release cost $25,000 He has about two years of probation—a benefit given to first-time offenders—left to serve and two more court appearances in Mexico later this year.
“It’s good to be home again,” Eddy said.
His personal items, including his pickup truck and iPhone, as well as his MacBook Pro, are still held by Mexican authorities.
Karen stated that she was in a “state of shock” during her eight days spent in the women’s prison in Hermosillo before her provisional release by a judge.
“Honestly, I didn’t know the gun laws were that way. I just went for a carton of cigarettes and wanted to come back,” She said.
Her boyfriend was released after posting bail. “I fled the country,” Karen said. “I don’t even know what the repercussions will be like.”
Karen said she walked across the border into the United States with only her clothes and a copy of her driver’s license.
“How much money do you have on you?” Morsi recalls that Eddy had $200 in his wallet when a National Guard soldier asked him.
“Oh, that should cover the mandatory medical inspection,” The officer at the police station said.
Eddy gave the money. He later discovered the service was entirely free.
Morsi, like her boyfriend, had to forfeit her personal belongings—an iPhone, a Cartier watch worth $10,000, a gold ankle bracelet, a Louis Vuitton purse with a $1,000 cash value, her $800 handgun—and priceless peace of mind.
“I don’t even know where everything is at this point. Not in my wildest dreams [did] I think I’d go through such trauma,” Morsi stated.
Morsi discovered that a Mexican court had sent her an 18-page notice to reopen her case.
She was released without being charged because the notice stated that the judge made a mistake. She would have to stand before a judge to face new charges of being inside Eddy’s vehicle when the couple got arrested.
“I have five days to respond. I don’t know if I trust any of these lawyers anymore,” Morsi stated.
Extradition Treaty
Karen claimed that a judge threatened to arrest her if she fled the country. He called her a flight risk, and said she was a danger to the country. “reach” Included the United States.
The 1978 extradition treaty between the United States of America and Mexico was signed for serious felony offenses such as murder or drug trafficking.
“If you don’t have money, you can’t do anything,” Morsi stated. “To this day, they’re trying to revoke my freedom. They’re trying us in separate cases. Mine is a whole new case. It’s like a sub-case. The charges are the same.”
“I don’t trust Mexico. I don’t trust the lawyers helping us. Who should I trust? A prosecutor can keep investigating for as long as they want before you get sentenced on whatever charge.”
Morsi stated that she was optimistic about the Mexican court system. “bigger fish to fry” She is better than her case.
“Do you want to [deport] an American to Mexico for a gun they kept? They treat us like murderers. Like we’re El Chapo. It’s a simple gun.”
Morsi claimed that Eddy’s time in prison has made her feel more mature. “full of hate and anger.”
“As much as we wanted to spend money in Mexico, we’ll never return. Look what happened to us?”
Learn the laws of foreign countries
“You can see it in real life. The corruption is so bad. The judge is corrupt. The prosecutor. The lawyer. Everyone. You have no choice but to go with the flow. Whatever they want, that’s what you do.”
“Something needs to be done. If you think of the big picture, I thank God for Eddy,” His family. “If I had been here alone, I would have lost my job. I would have lost my home; I would have lost my car. I would have had no one to help me.”
Aaron Bowker, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson, said that citizens have the responsibility to be familiar with the laws in the country they will visit and to ensure they don’t carry illegal firearms.
“Once you get to a certain point” Border “we consider it a meaningful departure,” Bowker stated. “There’s a lot of security at that point.”
“If cars constantly made U-turns, keeping traffic flowing in one direction would be hard. When you’re close to the point of entry, it can also become a security concern. Cars are funneling out—that’s it. You funnel out.”
Bowker stated that travelers should be aware of their surroundings. “completely honest and truthful” Check with border officers to declare ammunition and firearms before entering a foreign country.
“Then, you hope the situation works out for you. It’s the best you can do,” Bowker spoke to The Epoch Times.
Morsi, a web designer, claimed that her employer organized her return flight to Phoenix.
It was an experience she will never be able to forget.
“Once the flight attendant said, ‘Welcome to Phoenix, I started crying,” Morsi stated.
“I was bawling. You have freedom here. I don’t take it for granted, but you forget about our freedom [in America]. It’s not like that in Mexico.”
Antonio Harrison said Drew encountered other Americans languishing in prison for weapons possession, including a police officer, a nurse, an old high school buddy, several teachers, a doctor, and a truck driver—in the months he’s been in prison.
“Drew told me there’s a guy in there for one bullet, and they’re talking about two years. It’s a racket—big time,” said Antonio, a musician, who gave Drew a Bible to lift his spirits.
Antonio also published five songs on YouTube about his son’s ordeal in Mexico. He even wrote letters to President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, pleading for help.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” Antonio said. “I’m calling presidents and governments. No response—nothing. Silence. It doesn’t sound like anybody’s listening. We’re over here by ourselves.”
“You know what I got? I got all this stuff about raising money. Can you donate to this? Can you donate that? Can you vote for that person? Gosh. They want all this from me, but I’m asking them to help get my son out of the country.”
“My eyes are wide open. The only help you get is from yourself and the people you know. We’re just hoping to get him home soon. I can feel he’s cracking,” Antonio said.
Antonio said he is willing to spend as much money as it takes—however long it takes—to buy Drew’s release from prison.
“Take his guns; give him a big fine. But don’t take his life.”
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