American teenager Skylar Mack and her Caymanian boyfriend Vanjae Ramgeet shot onto international headlines one year ago when they were the first individuals to be jailed for breaching Cayman’s COVID-19 quarantine rules.
Now Governor Martyn Roper has revealed that he received calls from then-President Donald Trump’s national security adviser at the White House on Christmas Eve over the US teen’s imprisonment.
The couple’s conviction and subsequent imprisonment sparked outrage in the US and garnered international attention, as her grandmother Jeanne Mack publicly pleaded for the 18-year-old’s release, even seeking the intervention of Trump.
Until now, there was little-to-no information on what transpired privately as a result of that.
Roper shared the revelation about the White House calls when speaking with the Cayman Compass about his holiday plans this year.
While he told the Compass he intended to take some well-earned rest over the holidays, Roper revealed his less-than-peaceful Christmas Eve last year.
“It [Christmas] tends to be a quieter period although last year the case of Skylar Mack was ongoing. Taking calls from President Trump’s national security adviser at the White House on Christmas Eve was not what I planned,” he said in his interview, the full text of which will be published Christmas weekend.
Roper declined to delve deeper into the discussion in response to Compass follow-up questions.
“I cannot say much more on-the-record. Such discussions are between governments and it does not follow proper protocol to reveal details of the conversations,” Roper said.
Former Premier Alden McLaughlin also declined to comment on the issue.
At the time, there were claims the US was trying to pressure Roper and then-Premier McLaughlin into releasing Mack through the granting of a pardon.
One local platform even reported in January that Mack had been released early and boarded a flight to Miami.
The Governor’s Office refuted that rumour, and clarified that Mack and Ramjeet were in fact still serving their sentences.
There were also claims the US threatened sanctions against Cayman; however, those reports were never verified.
A social media campaign was also launched in the US – #FreeSkylar – last December seeking to add pressure on the McLaughlin administration to release the teen.
At the time, officials assured that Mack was treated like any other prisoner and received no special treatment or early release in her case.
Cayman’s judiciary and government operate independently of each other, and as such there was no avenue for any influence over the couple’s case or sentencing.
How the Mack, Ramjeet case played out
Mack, then 18, and her boyfriend Ramgeet, then 24, each pleaded guilty to one count of failing to comply with COVID-19-suppression regulations.
The charge stemmed from an incident on 29 Nov. 2020 when Mack attended a crowded jet-ski event in South Sound, in which Ramgeet was participating.
Mack, who had arrived on island two days prior to the breach, was required to self-isolate for 14 days before she could leave her home or interact with the public.
Despite these requirements, on the day of the breach, Mack was said to have been out at the event for more than seven hours. When police arrived, she was not wearing a mask and was not practising social distancing.
This action led to the couple being placed in isolation at a government facility, as well as necessitating several families to quarantine.
The breach occurred at a time when the McLaughlin government had implemented strict measures to suppress the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
The case itself sparked outrage in the local community, as there were few cases of the virus at the time.
Initially, Summary Court Magistrate Angelyn Hernandez had sentenced the couple to 40 hours of community service.
However, then-Director of Public Prosecution Patrick Moran appealed the sentence and argued that the judgment was unduly lenient, and did not reflect the wishes of Parliament, nor did it reflect the sentencing principles of deterrence and punishment.
Justice Roger Chapple, who heard the appeal in Grand Court, agreed and set aside the Summary Court judgment which had imposed community service and payment of $2,600, the standard cost of isolating at a government quarantine facility at the time.
When returning his decision, Chapple stated that he found that “the gravity of the breach was such that the only appropriate sentence would have been one of immediate imprisonment”.
Prior to their revised sentences, Mack and Ramgeet, through their lawyer, issued letters of apology in the Grand Court for their actions.
Attorney Jonathon Hughes appealed the four-month sentence, and it was reduced to two months in jail in late December.
Mack and Ramgeet were released from prison on 15 Jan. 2021.
The couple served a total of 31 days out of their two-month prison sentence.
The Governor’s Office issued a statement affirming their date of release.
“At that time both will have completed their sentence in accordance with Cayman Law. Neither have received any special dispensation,” the Governor’s Office statement said.
Mack left Cayman that same day.
Upon her return to the US, Mack appeared on US talk show Good Morning America where she admitted she had made a mistake and she deserved the punishment she received for putting the Cayman community at risk.
The pre-med student from Loganville, Georgia, had taken off her government-issued geofencing wristband, which she was required to wear while quarantining, just two days into her 14-day quarantine period.
“The anger, the disappointment – it’s all justified. I deserved it all, you know. I made this mistake,” she said in the interview.
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This seems like a dog bites man story. All governments work to protect their citizens through their departments of state. It is not unusual in fact for them to entice or threaten retaliation for countries holding their nationals. Hopefully Cayman would do the same in a similar situation.
What? You mean a government trying to help out and take care of one of it’s citizens? OH THE HUMANITY!!!! LOL This is news?
She and her boyfriend well deserved the prison sentences.
However I believe they are the only people who have been imprisoned for quarantine breaches, despite many taking place.
Regardless of where anyone is from – if they do the crime, they should do the time. No government intervention necessary!!!
Seems out of character, why would gov brag about that?
If the rule of law is to be conserved in modern life, then respect by all external governments must be reflected in diplomatic restraint, not coercion when legitimate punishment is meted out for due process conviction. Bullies and autocrats abound so much these days that it seems acceptable for undue pressure to be common in trying to twist arms in foreign countries for political favors at home. Is there anyone with a sense of fairness and propriety that can’t see that this story is indeed newsworthy and despicable at the same time?