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When his feet touched American soil on Saturday evening after nearly a month being quarantined and under house arrest in Togo, Casey McCoy didn't bend down and kiss the ground. He didn't pump his fists in the air. Nor did he let out a primal scream.
"I didn't really do anything because all my moments had been used up," he said. "I knew I was almost home, yet I couldn't really process anything."
McCoy has been in the news for several weeks now since the wedding he and his girlfriend Lacie Packard attended in Togo turned into an unorganized, chaotic and suspicious turn of events caused by Togolese doctors, police and local public officials.
After over three weeks of being stuck in Togo in West Africa due to a conflicting negative COVID test, McCoy did the one thing that led to him eventually being released. He hired one of the best attorneys in Togo, Lazzare Sousupke.
It turns out it was money well spent.
"If not for him, I would probably be in prison over there right now," said McCoy.
McCoy and Packard flew over 6,000 miles to Lome, Togo in mid-December to attend the wedding of his friend and boss, Tyler Grinder, who married a woman native to Togo who wanted a traditional Togolese wedding.
After the ceremony, McCoy and Packard took their required COVID tests and both results showed they were negative on Dec. 22. But when McCoy went to board the plane, local authorities claimed his test was positive and that his passport numbers were documented incorrectly. The documents were written in French so McCoy was unable to read them but figured everything was fine after being told he tested negative.
McCoy was then placed under quarantine in a run-down and mold-infested room in a former hotel with several others, although he was the only American. Packard returned to the United States to attend to matters at home and waited for McCoy to return.
But hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks. The story became widespread news and McCoy was getting support from many people he didn't even know, besides family and friends.
Even though McCoy eventually was allowed to be placed under house arrest at a place Grinder had rented out, he was treated more like a criminal than a brief visitor to the country. He was not allowed to see all of his test results, had to pay for those he did get to look at, was required to pay for the guards who made sure he didn't try to leave, and did not receive adequate food or water.
The U.S. Embassy personnel finally convinced the Togolese prosecutor to allow him to finish his quarantine at the rented home of Grinder and his brother, Trever, who stayed in Togo as long as McCoy was being held there.
Every time McCoy figured he was going to get to leave the country, something else came up such as his test was positive, he needed to quarantine longer, and finally that he was charged with falsifying his test result because he signed a French-written document that he figured was accurate and Togo officials claimed it wasn't.
Eventually, more drama unfolded as the prosecutor ended up arresting McCoy, who was facing a hefty fine and a possible prison sentence. Instead of trying to fight the charges with the U.S. Embassy personnel as he had been trying to do, McCoy did some research and hired Sousupke.
Casey stood before the judge on Wednesday, Jan. 12 and pled not guilty to all charges. The prosecutor asked for a six-month prison sentence with no suspended time and a $2 million CFA fine ($3,500 in American money).
The court case dragged on and on as the prosecutor grilled McCoy and attempted to corner him into saying something that could be used against him.
"I just told the truth," McCoy said. "Because the facts were the truth."
McCoy had written down what he wanted to tell the judge when he was allowed to give his final statement. His attorney felt his words were perfect.
"I knew I couldn't cry, and I needed to be strong," McCoy said. "That's what everyone over there was telling me."
As the judge was about to read her verdict, Sousupke placed his hand on McCoy's shoulder. Danial, who was interpreting, placed his arm around McCoy's back.
"I thought to myself, whatever happens, happens," McCoy said.
As the judge read the verdict, McCoy had no idea what she was saying in French. Bryan Cox of the U.S. Embassy told him the judge found him guilty to six months in prison, but the sentence had been suspended.
McCoy was also fined 500,000 CFA ($900).
"I was on cloud nine," McCoy said. "I was so ready to get out of there."
First, though, McCoy had to return to the police station to fill out paperwork to be released. He then returned to the house he stayed at while under house arrest.
"We still had a lot of things to do before we (Casey and the Grinder brothers) could fly back home, but we had it all planned out to get everything done the next day (Thursday, Jan. 13)," McCoy told.
Among the things that needed to be done was to take the COVID test again, extend their visas, get new passport photos taken, reserve airline tickets, and get all documents printed out for the airline when they checked in.
Meanwhile, the three guys checked into a nice hotel in Togo to shower, swim in the pool and feel like they had more freedom after being locked down for so long.
Even though there were a few delays, the men got everything done on Thursday and awaited their test results. The Grinders both tested negative, but McCoy's test came back positive.
"I called the U.S. Embassy to ask them what was going on and they couldn't believe it," McCoy explained. "They said there was absolutely no way possible it could be positive."
The embassy personnel called McCoy back later and had arranged for him to meet with the director of the lab of Health and Sciences.
"She told me that they were aware that people were having the same issue as I was and that she would run the sample differently," McCoy explained. "She didn't charge me for the test, even though I had to pay for all the other tests."
In all, McCoy took 10 COVID tests while in Togo. He was told he would get the results of this last test by 5 p.m. that same day."
The result never came that day, so McCoy and the Grinders drove to the lab at 9 a.m. on Saturday (Jan. 15) and waited for the director to arrive.
The tests were negative, the men said their goodbyes and hurried to the airport to make it in the required two hours before the flight was scheduled.
"When I went to check in, the guy didn't run a code or anything. He just glanced at my papers and said, 'You're good'. If they had done that in the first place, I wouldn't have been here for a month."
But the dilemma wasn't quite finished. When the men went through customs, McCoy was told that his test result didn't count because he hadn't paid for it. As had happened throughout his ordeal in Togo, authorities requested money from him for many things.
"We each gave him a few bucks and he just put it in his pocket and let us go through," McCoy noted. "The nightmare was finally over."
The three men arrived in New York at 5:15 p.m. (CST), checked into a hotel and cleaned up. They flew to Minneapolis and arrived at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday. Lacie picked Casey up and drove him back to Minneota where he celebrated Christmas with his mom and stepdad, Lois and Vernon Heald, along with other family members.
"Lacie held my hand the whole way back from Minneapolis," said McCoy. "When I saw Elllie (his 11-year-old daughter), she jumped in my arms, and we held each other tight."
McCoy missed out on Christmas, New Year's and his daughter's birthday while being held unfairly in Togo.
Later that night, McCoy returned to his home in Dell Rapids, SD.
"It's good to be home," he said. "It's still all hard to believe. I just can't thank everyone enough for all the love and support they've shown me. My family, Lacie, my friends, and a lot of people I don't even know. It means so much to me."
Obviously, he means a lot to them, too.
NOTE: Friends have set up a GoFundMe account to help defray some of the costs Casey amassed during his quarantine/house arrest time in Togo. That link is https://gofund.me/544b4758