An Athens pastor who was jailed in Jamaica for having a bullet in his carry-on bag has been released after paying a fine.

Steven Carter, 26, was on vacation with his wife in Montego Bay.   He is the youth pastor at The Church at Southside in Athens and was arrested by security officials at the Jamaica Airport when they found a .22-caliber bullet stuck in the seams of the bag.

According to Carter's wife Erin, her husband has been released, but must stay in Jamaica for 24 hours before leaving.  The couple paid a $3,000 fine for a possession of ammunition charge.  There was concern Carter could have been slapped with a terrorism charge that carried a minimum of seven years in prison.

"They don't know how it got there, said Church Pastor Jeff Williams. Steven doesn't own a gun, but evidently it has been there a while."

Williams said he'd contacted members of Congress, including Georgia Rep. Paul Broun, their representative in Athens.  Williams also said Steven's wife Erin had spoken with Sen. Johnny Isakson.

"We have been contacted by the family and are working to try to help our constituent," Isakson spokeswoman Lauren Culbertson said.

Williams said Carter has owned the bag most of his life but had not used it in about five years.  He said he was told that the last time Carter fired a gun was when he was about 10 and was squirrel hunting.