Mother of Three Faces 12 Years in Panama Prison After Gun Found in Borrowed Suitcase

A Vacation Turns Into a Legal Nightmare

What began as a holiday visit to Panama has become a desperate fight for freedom for Sabrina Underwood, a 34-year-old mother of three from San Antonio , who now faces a mandatory 12-year prison sentence after authorities found a loaded gun in her checked luggage . Her father, retired Dallas police detective Paul Inman, who spent 28 years with the Dallas Police Department working as a gang-unit detective , is now using his investigative skills in a race against time to save his daughter from spending more than a decade behind bars in a foreign prison.

Underwood said the firearm belongs to her husband, a U.S. service member based in Tennessee, and she did not know it was inside a suitcase she borrowed when she flew from Nashville to Houston and then to Panama . "When I arrived and went through, they scanned the baggage, and they found a loaded weapon in my baggage," Underwood said. "I thought they just pulled me aside to check my medication, and I ended up with the biggest surprise of my life."

Underwood spent 23 days in a Panama prison before being moved to house arrest , where she was "thrown in with convicted murderers, drug dealers, gangsters" according to her own account. Prosecutors have offered a plea deal that would still require her to serve 12 years , a sentence that would devastate the family and separate her from her three children, ages 14, 11, and 8, who would be adults by the time she is released .

A Father's Desperate Investigation

Inman says he has struggled to get help from the federal government, leaving him largely on his own as he tries to gather evidence and advocate for leniency . The 56-year-old retired detective describes his daughter as someone who "makes a friend wherever she goes. If she goes to a party, everyone's gonna know cause she's loud, she's fun, she's a fun person" , calling the situation "just a sad mistake, but it could cost her dearly" .

The emotional toll on the family has been severe. "If she does 12 years, that would be devastating for the family, devastating. I don't think emotionally she can make it," Inman said . For Underwood, being away from her children has been the hardest part: "This is the longest I've ever been away from my kids. They're usually attached to my hip" .

Security Screening Questions Emerge

The case also raises questions about how the loaded gun passed through security screenings at airports in Nashville and Houston before being discovered in Panama . The situation is "raising questions about airport screening in the United States" and specifically "why the weapon went through the U.S., Tennessee, and then Houston, and how that happened" , according to veteran advocate Esteban Blis, who has been assisting the family.

Under TSA regulations, passengers may transport unloaded firearms in checked baggage if they are transported in a locked, hard-sided container and declared to the airline before traveling . However, TSA considers a firearm to be "loaded" when both the firearm and its ammunition are accessible to the passenger , which appears to be the case here.

The Path Forward

Underwood's case highlights the severe consequences American travelers can face when inadvertently violating foreign weapons laws. Similar situations have occurred in other Caribbean destinations, where governments have tightened gun laws and imposed mandatory minimum sentences of 12 years for anyone caught bringing firearms or ammunition to their territories.

From her house arrest in Panama, Underwood pleads for support: "Pray for me to get home safe to my kids. I did not do this with any bad intentions. I just want to get home" . Her case serves as a stark reminder for travelers to thoroughly inspect luggage before international travel, as what might be considered a minor oversight in the United States can result in life-altering consequences abroad. The outcome of her legal battle could set important precedents for how similar cases involving American citizens are handled in foreign jurisdictions with strict weapons laws.