(NewsNation) — The cautionary tale of the Americans jailed on ammunition charges in the Turks and Caicos Islands is simple, says trial attorney Ted Simon.

“Just as you must pack your passport, I think it’s really prudent to remember that you really have to think about what you’re packing,” Simon told NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”

“Scour and search your suitcase and your person before you go and actually when you return,” he added.

One of those Americans, Bryan Hagerich of southwestern Pennsylvania, was freed Friday and allowed to fly home. He paid a $6,700 fine and was given a one-year suspended sentence for having 20 rounds of ammunition in his bag when he arrived in the Turks and Caicos late last month.

Four other Americans remain in custody on similar charges.

“I’m hopeful that TCI expedites the rest of these cases and that the other detained Americans will soon be released and reunited with their families as well,” Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman said in a statement.

This month, the governors of Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Virginia wrote the islands’ governor on behalf of three of the men charged who were from their states. They maintained they mistakenly took ammunition with them on vacation and did not have firearms.

Simon said anyone planning a foreign vacation or work travel needs to remember the important word: “foreign.”

“Most Americans don’t realize that, when they travel abroad, the U.S. Constitution does not travel with them,” said Simon.

“If you’re going to a country where it’s questionable whether or not you can drink the water, you should educate yourself on the customs and laws of those places.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.