Family of Georgia teen, 18, jailed for breaking quarantine rules in Cayman Islands say they will 'keep fighting until she is home' after her four-month sentence is reduced to two and they appeal to Trump for help
The family of a Georgia college student who was jailed in the Cayman Island's for breaking COVID-19 quarantine rules say they are living their worst nightmare and will keep fighting until she is back in the US after her four-month sentenced was halved.
Skylar Mack, 18, was ordered last week to serve four months in a Cayman Islands prison after she was caught breaking the island's mandatory 14-day quarantine to watch her boyfriend Vanjae Ramgeet compete in a jet-skiing competition last month.
The Cayman Islands Court of Appeals reduced Mack's sentence to two months on Tuesday.
Her 24-year-old boyfriend, who is from the Cayman Islands and was also jailed for aiding Mack in breaking quarantine, also had his four-month sentenced halved.
Photos from the local Cayman Compass show the couple arriving at court without masks on.
Georgia college student Skylar Mack, 18, had her prison sentenced halved on Tuesday to two months for breaking COVID-19 quarantine rules in the Cayman Islands
Both Mack (left after her sentencing) and her boyfriend Vanjae Ramgeet, 24, had their sentences reduced to two months on Tuesday
In an interview that aired on ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday, Mack's mother Rebecca Burt said they would continue fighting to bring the teenager home.
'She's scared to death over there, she's by herself. There's no family there whatsoever,' she said.
Speaking of the reduced sentence, Burt said: 'We were hoping for a different outcome. We're not going to stop fighting until she's back here with us.
'She was hoping she'd get to be home sooner. She has to spend Christmas by herself.'
Mack's family have already written to President Donald Trump asking him to step in and help bring the teenager home.
The teen, who is enrolled as a pre-med student at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, arrived in the Cayman Islands on November 27.
She was supposed to undergo a two-week quarantine as mandated by the government, which electronically tracks anyone who arrives in the British Caribbean territory.
In an interview that aired on ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday, Mack's mother Rebecca Burt and her stepfather said they would continue fighting to bring the teenager home
Mack was arrested after she was caught breaking the island's mandatory 14-day quarantine to watch her boyfriend Vanjae Ramgeet in a jet-skiing competition
Mack broke quarantine two days later on November 29 when her boyfriend picked her up so she could watch him compete in a jet ski competition.
The teen, who tested negative for COVID-19, was accused of removing her electronic tracker to attend the event.
After their arrest, a judge initially ruled the couple had to provide 40 hours of community service and pay a $4,400 fine.
Prosecutors appealed and argued the punishment was too lenient and wouldn't deter other possible violators.
A higher court decided in favor of prosecutors and ruled last week that the couple be imprisoned immediately.
During their sentencing, the judge said the decision to avoid quarantine was born of 'selfishness and arrogance'.
The judge noted that Mack spent seven hours out in public without a face mask or social distancing.
Mack, pictured in handcuffs, was initially sentenced to four months in jail. The Cayman Islands Court of Appeals reduced Mack's sentence to two months on Tuesday
In a desperate bid to bring her back home, her family appealed to Trump in a written letter.
His office said her case would be forwarded to the 'appropriate' federal agency, likely the US State Department.
'We're not asking for her to get an exception. We're asking for her not to be the exception,' Mack's grandmother Jeanne Mack told NBC's Today show on Monday.
'She just wants to come home. She knows she made a mistake, she owns up to that, but she's pretty hysterical right now.'
The couple are the first to be sentenced under an amended law targeting COVID-19 violators.
The original law called for a $2,400 fine and up to six months in prison, while the recently amended law calls for a $12,000 fine and up to two years in prison.
Under the original law, a Canadian couple found guilty of violating coronavirus measures were ordered to pay a $1,200 fine each.