Michigan couple returns home after 32-day hold in a Mexican prison over a timeshare dispute
Paul and Christy Akeo of Lansing were released from a maximum security prison in Cancun on Thursday and flown back to Michigan, attorney John Manly told The Associated Press.
Their release comes as the United State and Mexico are embroiled in a tariff war initiated by President Donald Trump, border security concerns and pressure to stem the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
Prosecutors in the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located, said in a March 15 statement that the Akeos signed a contract with the Mexico-based hospitality group Palace Co. in November 2021 to buy a timeshare club membership at a resort in the Cancun area, but that the couple subsequently defrauded the hotel chain.
Manly said his clients disputed about $116,000 in credit card charges to Palace in 2022, saying the company had breached the timeshare agreement.
'American Express gave Palace the opportunity to respond,' he said. 'They did and American Express found for the Akeos.'
Prosecutors said the company received notices from the credit card company that 13 transactions totaling $116,587 had been canceled, and the couple then shared on Facebook how they had conned the hotel group.
Manley said Christy Akeo did post on Facebook about their experience and how the charges were appealed to their credit card company, but that prosecutors had misrepresented the nature of her posts.
Reporters were on hand to record the arrest of the Akeos at Cancun International Airport on March 4, when they arrived for a vacation at a different resort, and a judge ordered them detained pending trial, Manly said.
Christy Akeo's adult children — two-time national champion gymnast Lindsey Lemke Hull and Michael Lemke — then posted about their parents' confinement on social media, winning the attention of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, a Republican from Lansing, Michigan.
Barrett said he became involved around March 23 or 24.
'We had some loose connections to friends of friends who kind of knew the family,' Barrett said Friday. 'I spoke directly to the son. I escalated it up to the State Department and the White House that same day.'
U.S. Consulate staff in Mexico visited the couple in prison, but there didn't seem to be any movement on their case, Barrett said.
'Not satisfied with what we were hearing, I made the decision to go down there and deal with it personally,' he said.
Barrett said he flew to Cancun on Wednesday where he met with the U.S. State Department consulate general. He then went to the prison to meet with the Akeos and later met with the president of Mexico's National Supreme Court of Justice.
The Akeos went before a local judge on Thursday and were released after they and the Palace Co. agreed to donate the disputed funds, Barrett said.
'This essentially amounted to a contract dispute and shouldn't result in somebody being in max prison,' he said.
Palace said in a statement that '$116,587.84, the amount that was contested by the Akeos and refunded to them by American Express, will be donated to a bona fide established nonprofit in Mexico benefitting orphan children.'
'Each party regrets that this incident occurred,' Palace said.
Lindsey Lemke Hull and Michael Lemke thanked Barrett, Trump and his special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, for helping to secure the release.
'Through four straight weeks of fear and uncertainty, Congressman Barrett's commitment to bringing our parents' home safely provided us with hope and reassurance,' the family said. 'No American should be held hostage to the demands of a private company anywhere in the world.'
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