Bahamas vacation turns nightmare for Oklahoma grandma Mary Robinson, 69, who landed behind bars after a .380 pistol and four bullets were discovered in her handbag—right in the middle of her Caribbean adventure with her 12-year-old adopted son Johnny. The twist? Robinson claims she simply forgot the firearm, a gift from her aunt decades ago, was stashed in her purse when she boarded Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas for Johnny’s birthday bash, departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Security at the U.S. port missed the weapon, but as the ship docked in Nassau and the family prepared for an excursion, Bahamian authorities made the shocking find. Suddenly, Robinson was whisked away to jail, leaving her friend scrambling to care for her grandson. Her granddaughter, Gracie Exendine, launched a desperate GoFundMe plea, praying for ‘a miracle’ to keep her grandma out of the notorious Bahamian prison.
Attorney Bjorn Ferguson revealed Robinson’s pistol was fully legal stateside, and hinted that Robinson, who reportedly suffers from some dementia, had no malicious intent—just an innocent mistake. Legal trouble in the Bahamas is serious business—a default two-year sentence awaits those caught with unlicensed weapons. But after two days in Nassau’s rat-infested Central Police Station and a courtroom appearance before Magistrate Lennox Coleby Sr., Robinson’s admission of guilt and an $8,000 fine spared her the grim prospect of prison time. The family now races to pay the fine, hoping this birthday horror story soon ends with a ticket home.
