(NewsNation) — A Michigan couple that had been held at a Mexican prison for a month over a timeshare dispute with a resort company was released Thursday.
Paul and Christy Akeo were freed from a maximum-security facility one day after a Michigan congressman, Republican Tom Barrett, visited the couple and publicized their plight.
The Akeos had been arrested in Cancún on March 4 after a high-end resort company accused the Spring Arbor couple of fraud. Advocates for the Akeos said the credit card dispute that entangled them did not merit the harsh conditions they experienced behind bars.
“They are in the plane right now,” on a chartered flight to Michigan, U.S. hostage negotiator Adam Boehler told Reuters on Thursday evening.
They were accompanied by Barrett.
Video from the congressman’s office showed the Akeos, in prison garb, exiting the prison and boarding a private jet to Lansing, Mich. Family members were expected to receive them at midnight or 1 a.m. local time, said Mallory Wilson, a friend of the Akeo family.
“It’s been a day,” Wilson told “Banfield” on Thursday evening. “I’m elated to share that they’re finally coming home, and I think I had a little stroke when I saw Christy’s name come up on my phone.”
Dick Atkins, an attorney who specializes in foreign legal matters, said the problems the Akeos experienced are rare. More than 36 million U.S. residents go to Mexico each year, and only a small number, fewer than 500, are arrested, he said.
“I have a feeling that hotels, after this, will be more careful because there’s no doubt they’re going to lose business because of this,” Atkins said.
