American couple finally return home in Mexican prison for another month in a timeshare dispute – Country

A Michigan couple has been released from a Mexican prison after nearly a month behind a payment dispute with a timeshare company.

Paul, 58, and Christy Akeo, 60, “have been released and returned to Lansing, Michigan,” according to an attorney's statement on April 3.

CNN reported that prosecutors in Quintana Roo, Mexico, accused the couple of canceling 13 credit card payments in 2022, worth about $116,500, which they said was causing fraud.

The couple denied the allegations, saying their credit card company had refunded the amount when the resort company Palace Company failed to provide promised services. The judge dismissed the criminal case and ordered the couple to be released as Quintana Roo's state attorney reached an agreement with Akeos and Timeshare Medical.

Under the terms of the agreement, a $116,587.84 will be donated to a Mexico nonprofit to benefit the orphans.

“Every party regrets the incident,” said a joint statement from Akeos and Palace Company.

The couple was detained shortly after landing in Cancun on March 4 and were alleged to deceive the hotel company Palace Elite Resorts. The company previously claimed the couple tricked it with a $117,000 refund on its American Express card after purchasing a timeshare membership with them a few years ago.

Palace Elite Resorts filed a complaint with Mexican prosecutors, which led to Akeos' arrest.

The couple denied the company's allegations, and their law firm said they were “captured for 32 days in Cereso Cancun prison.”

“There is no doubt what they are doing is that they are hijacking two Americans because they want them to pay,” John Manly, the couple's attorney, told CBS.

Rep. Tom Barrett, a Republican of Michigan, traveled to Mexico to visit the couple and took them home.

Barrett posted on X on April 2, asking “they were released after they learned that their physical condition had worsened yesterday.”

“Enough, after nearly a month of Mexican prisons spent nearly a month, Mexicans had long been releasing Paul and Christie after the contract disputes on the schedule,” Barrett wrote.

Barrett said in another article that he headed straight to a prison landing in Mexico.

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“I met them in person for an hour and learned about the horrible situations they were facing – rubber walls, crowded cells, toilets without flushing and disgusting food. This made them scared, frustrated and struggling to find hope. I assure them that I can do my best to ensure their safe release,” Barrett wrote.

He said he met with the president of the Quintana Roo Supreme Court after meeting with Akeos to “accelerate any relief we can provide.”

A day later, Barrett shared a video of a video boarding the plane back to Michigan, writing: “Paul and Christy Akeo are home. The mission is completed.”

On March 24, the couple's daughter, Lindsey Hull, said her mother and stepfather “had no bail in Mexico's highest security Mexican prison” in a Facebook post.

Hull wrote in a statement on March 24: “The last 21 days of being captured were the direct result of my parents' illegal credit card charges that were just challenging the AKA Palace and American Express.

“The last 21 days of torture my parents have experienced are direct responses to our parents’ corruption, extortion, revenge and blackmail. Palace Company demanded $250,000, signing the NDA’s signing, and not even guaranteeing their release, as well as our Facebook posts, and our parents’ responsibilities and faults for the week and their failures, and they are always suffering from the responsibility of suffering.

Hull claimed the palace company also asked her parents to apologize, which she said was “absolutely disgusting.”

Hull wrote: “My mom and Paul were denied medical care, refused proper communication and publicly slander. They were captured for 21 days and despite countless talks with Paul, we have not communicated with him yet.”

She added: “My mom lost 25 pounds in 20 days because she was aware of food that she was allergic to.

Hull said she had raised her concerns about the U.S. consulate in three weeks, but they allegedly did not organize any visits with the U.S. citizens sentenced to jail until 17 days.

Hull added: “In other words, the U.S. consulate and the U.S. embassy are useless.”

Her family “spent thousands of dollars to Mexico's legal representatives.”

“But unfortunately, that's so much only when dealing with this level of corruption and blackmail. We also met the previous demands made by the Palace Company for us, but they didn't respond seriously to getting our parents to release,” Hull said in her position.

Hull shared a video of her parents returning home on April 4, writing: “When mom and dad finally come home 30 days later!!!”

After returning, the couple's lawyers thanked envoys Adam Boehler, U.S. President Donald Trump and Barrett for calling him “the hero of my book.”

“President Trump, I know he's personally involved and want them to come home, so I've given him a lot of credit to praise,” Manly told CNN. “No American has to endure these people. But for these three people, I think they're still sitting there.”

Hull thanked government officials for helping organize the release of their parents and pointed out Barrett's efforts.

“He headed towards Cancun and camped in prison and made it clear that he would not go home,” she said in a statement on April 3.

“No American should take hostages from private companies anywhere in the world,” she said.

Hull added that her parents will be “disease and trauma” caused to them during their imprisonment.

– Documents with Reuters