As soon as Troy Bachmann stepped on American soil, he knelt and kissed the
ground.

It was 10:30 in the morning, Feb. 1. It was the Welches resident’s first taste
of freedom in more than eight months.

Bachmann had suffered through those long months in the notorious
Venustiano Carranza Prison in Tepic, Mexico since May 2015, held without
charges, then with charges, finally tried and found not guilty, then remained
in prison as the prosecuting attorney appealed the verdict.

Then came the phone call from Troy to his brother, Derek Bachmann. He had
been found innocent and absolved of all charges.

“I didn’t believe it,” Troy told The Mountain Times of when he first got the
news of his release. “I had been told that a couple of times ... I could not give
up hope. But, I didn’t believe it.”

It was also difficult to believe that Troy had been arrested in the first place.
Watermelon farmers at Troy’s Mexican business, Fancy Fresh Farms, brought
the charges that Troy insisted were bogus. He had noticed discrepancies in
the accounting of his bookkeeper and hired an independent audit, which
confirmed his suspicions. Upon returning from a business trip he was cuffed
and taken off to the prison in Tepic – a prison, according to Human Rights
Watch, of “unspeakable conditions.”

When Derek got the phone call from his brother saying he had been released
and was heading toward Guadalajara to catch a plane to the U.S., Derek knew
this time it was real.

“I couldn’t hear any yelling and screaming in the background like all the other
times I spoke with him, just his voice and the sound of a moving car. It’s
finally over,” Derek said, tears flowing and hugging his wife.

Feb. 20 was Troy’s homecoming party at The Fly Fishing Shop in Welches,
owned by his father, Mark Bachmann. He was joined by his wife Sara, son
Adam, brother Derek and his wife Angie, plus his attorney from Mexico, Jose
Miguel Pena and a host of friends.

According to Derek, his brother is doing fine, has obviously lost some weight
thanks to the prison in Tepic, and will be seeking medical attention soon.
At the homecoming party Troy noted it is so easy in this country to take our
rights for granted, to have expectations of clean water, decent food, mostly
clean air to breathe, and the ability to get a job.

“Until a person sees how things are going elsewhere, there is little
appreciation of these things,” he said.

Pena, the attorney, supported Troy’s opinion, saying that he loves his country,
but only a handful of people hold all the power and corruption is the norm. He
compared it to “Hitler’s time.”

Besides the work of Pena, and the constant pressure from Derek and the
family, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) also played a role, leaning on
Mexican authorities to obtain the release.

“I’m overjoyed that Troy is back on American soil, reunited with his family,”
Merkley wrote in an email to The Mountain Times. “No one should have to go
through what he has gone through. His brother, Derek, deserves tremendous
credit for his unwavering efforts to advocate for Troy.

“I am also thankful to the Mexican Ambassador and Attorney General of
Mexico, U.S. State Department and consular officials in Guadalajara, and
everyone who assisted in securing his release.”

Troy was asked if he had any plans to return to Mexico and he broke into a
big smile. “No immediate plans to return,” he said. “It would be easy to have
bad feelings about all of Mexico and the people but there are a lot of good
people there. But it might be sometime before I go back.”

Employees that brought the false charges against Troy and his company are
being prosecuted to the full extent of the law, according to Derek. He noted
that officials are now dedicated to bringing those responsible to justice.