Skylar Mack, the American student who was released from prison in the Cayman Islands last week for violating coronavirus restrictions, said in an interview that she “deserves it.”
In a section that aired on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, Ms. Mack, 18, apologizes for breaking the rules and says any anger towards her is justified. She was released Friday after spending more than a month behind bars.
“I deserved it,” she said. “I was like, ‘You know what, I made this mistake, and it’s a struggle, you know, but you did it to yourself. ”
After the end of the semester at Mercer University in Georgia, Ms. Mack flew to the Cayman Islands to watch her boyfriend, Vanjae Ramgeet (24), compete in the national championships of Jet Ski racing.
She showed up on Friday and tested negative for the coronavirus. While the laws of the British territory required her to stay in her hotel room for 14 days, on Sunday, the day of the championship, she slipped the electronic monitor bracelet off her wrist. She went to the beach and met Mr. Ramgeet cheered when he won first place.
In mid-December, a court in the Cayman Islands ruled. Mack and Mr. Ramgeet sentenced to four months in prison. After a shout that the punishment was too severe, a panel of judges reduced the sentence to two months. Her release after a little over half the time was in line with what her lawyer expected.
She was one of thousands of people around the world who were punished for violating quarantine restrictions. Extensive travel restrictions could not stop the spread of the virus, and some people consider themselves above the rules.
Me. Mack told Good Morning America that if she got sick, she would not be able to live with herself.
Mr. Ramgeet was also released on Friday, according to Jeanne Mack, Skylar’s grandmother, who said last month that her granddaughter was struggling in prison.
“It was just one sad after another,” Jeanne Mack said. ‘She’s bored, she has nothing to do there. She does not want to sit in the common area and watch TV because the Cayman news blows her picture about it. “
Jeanne Mack said she was concerned that her granddaughter’s scholarship to Mercer, where she was a junior medical student, could be withdrawn because she missed the first few weeks of the semester in prison. A Mercer spokesman, Kyle Sears, said Monday that Skylar Mack was not enrolled for the spring semester and declined to comment further.