Cruise Grandma Jailed in Bahamas After Forgotten Pistol Found in Her Purse
A 69-year-old Oklahoma grandmother is behind bars in the Bahamas after a firearm was discovered in her purse while she was sailing on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas with her 12-year-old adopted son — a trip meant to celebrate his birthday.
Mary Robinson, a widow from Sand Springs, Oklahoma, was taken into custody after Nassau security detected a .380 pistol and four rounds of ammunition in her bag as she re-boarded the ship following a day of sightseeing.
According to her attorney, the gun had gone completely unnoticed during the security screening at Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades when she boarded the vessel on December 1.
A Forgotten Firearm Leads to a Serious Charge
Robinson’s lawyer, Bjorn Ferguson, told the court that she had “a touch of dementia” and simply forgot the decades-old firearm was inside her purse. The small Kel-Tec .380 pistol was reportedly given to her more than 50 years ago and she is licensed to carry it in the United States.
During her court appearance, Robinson appeared distraught and quietly wept as her attorney argued that the situation was a genuine mistake, not an attempt to smuggle a weapon on board.
But Bahamian law is strict: unlicensed firearm possession carries a default sentence of 24 months. The presiding magistrate offered Robinson the opportunity to avoid jail time if she could pay an $8,000 fine immediately. When she was unable to produce the money on the spot, she was sentenced to the two-year term.
Transferred to a Prison Described as ‘Not Fit for Humanity’
Robinson was taken to Fox Hill Correctional Centre, the country’s most notorious prison and a facility widely condemned in past U.S. State Department reports for overcrowding, limited sanitation, and inadequate medical care.
The prison has appeared on Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons and previously housed high-profile inmates such as crypto figure Sam Bankman-Fried and accused “murder-for-hire” suspect Lindsay Shiver.
According to family and her attorney, Robinson has already encountered harsh conditions — including “aggressive rats” in her holding cell — even before being transferred to the main facility.
Family Scrambles to Raise Funds for Her Release
With Robinson’s adopted son now being looked after by a family friend for the remainder of the cruise, relatives in Oklahoma launched a GoFundMe campaign to help secure the fine needed for her release.
Her granddaughter wrote that Robinson typically travels with some form of personal protection but normally leaves it in the car if not permitted onboard. This time, she simply forgot.
The fundraiser quickly gained significant support, with thousands already pledged.
Police and Cruise Line Response
Bahamian authorities confirmed the arrest, stating that Interpol-attached officers boarded the ship at Prince George Wharf and detained a female passenger after receiving information about a suspected firearm. The investigation remains ongoing.
Royal Caribbean and Port Everglades officials have not yet commented on how the weapon cleared the ship’s initial security screening in Florida.
