Michigan Couple Released from Mexican Prison

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

Paul, 58, and Christy Akeo, 60, “have been released from custody and have returned to Lansing, Michigan,” according to a statement from their lawyers on April 3.

Prosecutors in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo accused the couple of cancelling 13 credit card payments to a hotel chain worth approximately $116,500 in 2022, which they said constituted fraud, CNN reported.

The couple denied the allegations, saying that their credit card company had refunded the amount when the resort firm, The Palace Company, failed to provide services that were promised. A judge dismissed the criminal case and ordered the release of the couple after the state attorney of Quintana Roo reached an agreement with the Akeos and the timeshare company.

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Agreement and Release

Under the terms of the agreement, $116,587.84 will be donated to a non-profit organization in Mexico benefiting orphan children.

“Each party regrets that this incident occurred,” a joint statement from the Akeos and The Palace Company said.

The couple was taken into custody shortly after their plane landed in Cancun on March 4 for allegedly defrauding the hospitality company, Palace Elite Resorts. The company previously claimed the couple had defrauded it through $117,000 of chargebacks on their American Express card after they purchased a timeshare membership with them several years earlier.

Arrest and Imprisonment

Palace Elite Resorts filed a complaint with the Mexican public prosecutor, which led to the arrests of the Akeos.

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

“Make no mistake, what they’re doing is they are holding two Americans hostage because they want them to pay them money,” the couple’s lawyer John Manly told CBS.

Michigan Republican Rep. Tom Barrett travelled to Mexico to visit the couple and bring them back home.

Barrett posted on X on April 2, demanding “their release after learning yesterday of their deteriorating physical condition.”

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Efforts to Secure Release

“Enough is enough, after spending nearly a month in a maximum security Mexican prison over what amounts to a contract dispute on a time-share, it’s long overdue for the Mexican authorities to release Paul and Christy,” Barrett wrote.

This morning I departed for Mexico to insist on visiting Paul and Christy Akeo in prison and to demand their release after learning yesterday of their deteriorating physical condition.

I have been in regular contact with their family since I was made aware of their detention…

— Congressman Tom Barrett (@RepTomBarrett) April 2, 2025

In another post, Barrett said he travelled directly to the prison where the Akeos were being held upon landing in Mexico.

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Conditions in Prison

“I met with them personally for an hour and learned of the horrific conditions they are facing — rubbled walls, overcrowded cells, toilets that don’t flush, and disgusting food. This has left them scared, frustrated, and struggling to find hope. I assured them that I am doing everything I can to urgently secure their safe release,” Barrett wrote.

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Family’s Efforts

On March 24, the couple’s daughter, Lindsey Hull, said her mother and stepfather were being “held without bail in a maximum-security Mexican prison” in a Facebook post.

“The last 21 days of being held captive is a direct result of my parents simply challenging wrongful credit card charges made by The Palace Company, aka Palace Resorts with American Express. American Express sided with my mom and Paul as a response to these wrongful charges,” Hull wrote in a statement on March 24.

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Demands and Conditions

“The last 21 days of torture my parents have been through is a direct response of The Palace Company’s corruption, extortion, retaliation and blackmail against our parents. The Palace Company is demanding $250,000, the signing of an NDA that does not even guarantee their release, as well as a Facebook post made by our parents to be left up for 1 week claiming all responsibility and fault for the torture they have endured throughout the last 3 weeks,” Hull continued.

Hull claimed that The Palace Company was also demanding a public apology from her parents, which she said was “absolutely sickening.”

“My mom and Paul are being denied medical attention, denied proper communication and publicly defamed. They have been held captive in prison for 21 days and despite asking numerous times to speak to Paul, we have yet to have ANY communication with him,” Hull wrote.

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Aftermath and Recovery

After their return, the couple’s lawyers thanked Special Envoy Adam Boehler, U.S. President Donald Trump and Barrett, calling him a “hero in my book.”

“President Trump, I know he personally got involved with this and wanted them home, so I give him a lot of credit,” Manly said to CNN. “No American should have to endure what these people have endured. But for these three men, I think they’d still be sitting there.”

In a statement, Hull thanked government officials for helping to organize her parents’ release and noted Barrett’s efforts.

“He traveled to Cancun at great personal risk, camped out at the prison and made it clear that he would not return home without them,” she said in a statement on April 3. “His heroic efforts as a veteran represent the finest traditions of our nation’s military to never leave an American behind.”

“No American should be held hostage to the demands of a private company anywhere in the world,” she said.

Hull added her parents will be treated for “illnesses and trauma” inflicted upon them during their captivity.

— With files from Reuters

Conclusion

The release of the Akeo couple from a Mexican prison marks the end of a month-long ordeal for the family. The incident highlights the risks and challenges faced by Americans traveling abroad, particularly when dealing with foreign companies and legal systems.