By: Staff Writer
June 2, 2026
Michael Misick, former premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, has been sentenced to four years in prison after being sentenced last week after being convicted in a bribery scandal in the British protectorate.
Misick, who is the ex-husband of American actress Lisa Rae McCoy, who was sentenced by Justice Rajendra Narine, to a term of four years and 26 days in a packed Supreme Court courtroom on Friday, after finding Misick guilty on February 4, 2026, on three bribery counts connected to government land and development deals.
Former Cabinet minister McAllister Hanchell and attorney Thomas Misick — Michael Misick’s brother — were also sentenced in the same case on Friday. Hanchell was sentenced to three years and Thomas Misick to four years. All three were taken into custody and are expected to appeal their sentences.
Michael Misick stepped down as premier in 2009, shortly after Britain temporarily took control of the territory’s government and suspended its constitution following allegations of rampant corruption. The period of direct rule ended in November 2012, when new elections were held.
The judge found that the offences fell within the highest category of seriousness, citing the substantial financial benefits involved, the abuse of high public office and what he described as the sophisticated nature of the schemes used to facilitate and conceal the criminal conduct.
He set a starting point of eight years’ imprisonment for each of the three bribery convictions before considering aggravating and mitigating factors.
The court ultimately reduced the sentence by a total of five years after taking into account several mitigating factors, including the lengthy delay in the proceedings, the breach of Misick’s constitutional right to be tried within a reasonable time, the period he spent in custody in Brazil and other personal circumstances advanced by the defence.
Misick was arrested in December 2012 in Brazil, after his application for political asylum was rejected there. He was accused of corruption, misusing public money and profiting from the sale of government-owned land to developers.