Valley man goes to India for hip surgery, ends up in jail

Apache Junction, AZ: A Valley man is stuck in a jail in India after traveling there for hip surgery.
Larry Sellmeyer was arrested two weeks ago.
"Its very difficult and hard on our family," said Sellmeyer's wife Tuyet.
Hoping to save money Sellmeyer went to India for the surgery but he got more than he bargained for.
His family says he's recovering fine but he's doing it inside a jail cell."He decided to bring a gun to protect himself," said Sellmeyer's wife Tuyet.
Which according to officials is illegal in India.
"He didn't think it was against the law over there. If he knew it was against the law he wouldn't have brought it," said Tuyet.Now after two weeks of waiting his family still hasn't talked to him."We've been talking through third parties but we would love to talk to him to see how he was doing," said Larry's daughter Melinda Cortez.
He could face up to 10 years in prison.
"And that's harsh. Yeah, he made a honest mistake bringing a gun over there without doing the research but he's not a terrorist, he's not a terrible man," said Cortez.
The family has petitioned government officials to see if they can help. Senator John McCain's office is looking into it.
02/07/09 Jay Reynolds/abc15.com, Arizona, USA

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009, Foreign Jul 2009, Safety Jul 2009