Thirty-year-old Ryan Pate was under contract as a civilian helicopter mechanic for Global Aerospace Logistics, a company in the United Arab Emirates. After a break here in the United States, Pate returned to work in Abu Dhabi last month, where he was arrested on slander charges.
According to Pate, he posted derogatory comments about the company and the Arab culture on Facebook, after getting upset about a work situation involving his health. Pate said he made the post while he was in Florida and was irrationally venting, something he has since apologized for.
"When they told me I was arrested for a Facebook post, my brain couldn't process that,” Pate said.
Pate spent more than a week in an Abu Dhabi prison before being released on bail to await his next court date, where he could face up to five years behind bars and up to $50,000 in fines for violating UAE cybercrime laws.
"It's like a feeling of helplessness because there is nothing I can do over here about my situation besides wait,” Pate said.
Now Pate, who was stripped of his passport, can only see his family and loved ones over Skype. Bay News 9 sat down with his fiancé Jillian Cardoza during one of their conversations. Cardoza said what Pate posted was wrong but she said, it’s not a reflection of who he really is.
"He just has the biggest heart out of anybody I've ever met,” she said. “I spent the first 33 years of my life trying to find somebody that I could, that I would want to spend the rest of my life with and that's him and he's not a bad person."
Now, the couple is at the mercy of a judge more than 10,000 miles away.
Congressman David Jolly, the Republican representative for District 13 in Pinellas County, has stepped in to help.
“Imagine being a US citizen, detained overseas for something you posted on social media while home in the states,” Jolly said. “That is terrifying. Ryan is facing a terrifying prospect."
Jolly has reached out to both U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and UAE officials, who he said should grant Pate clemency. Jolly said he plans to continue his outreach until Pate is allowed to come home.
"We know the words he posted were disrespectful. Nobody is condoning what he said. But the truth of the matter is he is an American citizen who was home in Florida engaging in constitutionally protected behavior,” Jolly said. "This is shocking. It has a chilling effect, not just on our international relations but on our very foundation of freedom of speech.”
Pate is due back in court on March 17th. Cardoza has set up a GoFundMe page, in an effort to raise money for his legal counsel.