Georgia Teen Jailed In Caymans For Breaking COVID Quarantine

LOGANVILLE, GA — A Loganville teenager and her boyfriend have both been sentenced to four months in prison after violating strict COVID quarantine requirements in the Cayman Islands.

Skylar Mack, 18, and Vanjae Ramgeet, 24, of the Cayman Islands, were taken to prison Tuesday after the country’s top prosecutor appealed their original, more lenient sentence of $2,600 and 40 hours each of community service, reported People magazine.

Mack arrived in the Caymans on Nov. 27 and was required by law to have stayed in quarantine for at least 14 days. Instead, she removed her tracking bracelet and left her residence two days later to watch her boyfriend, Ramgeet, compete in a Jet-Ski event.

Authorities arrested the two after watching them mingle, without masks, among the crowd for more than seven hours, according to Cayman Compass. Mack and Ramgeet, along with four other families, then went into a two-week quarantine, reported the Cayman News Service.

Mack and Ramjeet were initially sentenced last week to a fine and community service, but Patrick Moran, the country’s director of public prosecutions, said he thought the punishment wasn’t enough.

“These offenses should have been met with far more stringent measures,” Moran said, as reported by the Compass. “When it comes to a matter of deterrence, the sentences imposed are likely to have little to no effect on other like-minded individuals.”

Their attorney, Jonathon Hughes, told the Associated Press that he will appeal for a lesser sentence next week.

“They’re two young people who have never been in trouble before,” Hughes said in a phone interview. “This is the first time they’ve had interaction with police, the courts, prison.”

A few days earlier, Mack issued a public apology in a letter sent through Hughes to the Compass.

“I am aware that the Cayman Islands government has done nothing but dedicate extreme caution to combat the spread of COVID-19, for this the country and its citizens can be extremely proud; I made a mistake, and words cannot express how sorry I am for this,” Mack wrote. “I was afforded the opportunity to enter the islands during these trying times and I abused it. I am humbly asking for the forgiveness of the community.”

The Associated Press reports that so far the Caymans have confirmed 300 COVID-19 cases and two deaths. As of Thursday, the United States has reported more than 17 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 308,000 deaths from it, more on both counts than any other country in the world.