Mexico releases Marine veteran

BROWNSVILLE,Tx DEC.21 2012-Jon Hammar father of US Marine Jon Hammer paces along Sam Perl and Mexico Blvd in Brownsville near the Brownsville Matamoros International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas Friday Dec.21,2012. Hammer was waiting on the release of his son from a Matamoros, Tamaulipas Mexico prison. SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS NEWS/Photo by Delcia Lopez less BROWNSVILLE,Tx DEC.21 2012-Jon Hammar father of US Marine Jon Hammer paces along Sam Perl and Mexico Blvd in Brownsville near the Brownsville Matamoros International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas Friday ... more Photo: Delcia Lopez, Express-News Photo: Delcia Lopez, Express-News Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Mexico releases Marine veteran 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

BROWNSVILLE — Cloaked by nightfall and escorted by U.S. consular officials, Jon Hammar at long last Friday crossed an international bridge to Brownsville.

After a harrowing 41/2 months in a Mexican prison, the U.S. Marine veteran then joined his father for a quiet drive back to their Miami home.

“He's already gone, driving carefully with his dad, enjoying relaxation finally,” his attorney, Eddie Varon Levy, told media members who'd followed the U.S.-side entourage from bridge to bridge in hopes of capturing the reunion.

“What happened was ... Jon wasn't in a condition to be taking pictures,” Varon Levy said.

Hammar, 27, was arrested Aug. 15, immediately after crossing into Matamoros. The plan was to reach the surfing beaches of Costa Rica via land, and he traveled with a fellow war veteran in an old Winnebago packed with surf boards.

An old shotgun that he thought would come in handy for hunting, a relic that had belonged to his great-granddad, measured too short in the barrel to meet Mexican regulations for crossing.

While Hammar thought he'd properly registered the gun, Mexican officials said he hadn't.

Hammar's family members kept the story to themselves for months, keeping contact only with Varon Levy and U.S. consular officials in Matamoros.

After a threatening call from gang members in the prison, the officials had him moved from general population, his parents said. He was placed in a small storage area, where guards at times chained him to a bed.

In November, Hammar was brought to court and pressured to enter a guilty plea, prompting the family members break their silence.

Gerardo Acevedo Danache, vice president of international affairs for the Chambers of Commerce for both Matamoros and the state of Tamaulipas, said the public outcry to the story was heard on both sides of the border.

The chambers, representing some 40,000 businessmen, urged Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to consider the message the jailing was sending to potential tourists and pardon Hammar.

In the United States, members of Congress were urging action. The story gained increasing attention in Mexico, where, Acevedo said, the public widely felt the treatment to be unfair.

In the end, Acevedo said, a judge in Matamoros agreed to dismiss the charges.

“It was all the pressure,” he said.

He said the situation begged both an investigation into Hammar's treatment and a reconsideration of how the country advises foreigners on gun regulations.

Signs at the border say firearms are prohibited, but hunting in Mexico is legal.

“Jon is a victim of miscommunication and misunderstanding,” Acevedo said. “We need to avoid that situation in the future.”

It was a long day for Jon Hammar Sr., who learned of the pending release Thursday night and took a morning flight to South Texas.

By 1 p.m., he was waiting in a parking lot across from the B&M International Bridge, the bridge his son had crossed months before.

He watched for hours as official-looking cars emerged from the U.S. Customs lot without being “the one,” but never lost his optimistic glow.

“I'm not leaving,” the elder Hammar said in the fifth hour of waiting. “It's all Mexican paperwork. I fully expect him to show up soon.”

He said he'd opted to drive to save his son from airport crowds and hassle. He rented a pickup, in case they were able to bring his son's surf boards home. Surfing was part of the young Marine's therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The only real deadline was to be home by Christmas, where his wife and daughter waited.

“There's nothing under the tree,” Hammar Sr. said. “We didn't do any of that shopping nonsense. But I'll be able to say, 'Look what I've got.'”

lbrezosky@express-news.net