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U.S. approved
gas trips for Quebeckers By CAMPBELL CLARK Saturday, November 2, 2002 Print Edition, Page A10
OTTAWA -- The U.S. Customs Service gave the people of Pohénégamook, Que., written assurances that they could buy gasoline at a cross-border station without reporting for customs inspection -- the same act for which Michel Jalbert has languished in jail for 22 days. But the U.S. federal prosecutor handling the case says the exception does not matter because Mr. Jalbert's criminal record meant he had no right to enter the United States, even if he went only 15 metres into the country to buy gasoline. The 1990 letter from Emery Ingalls, the U.S. Customs Service's regional director in Maine, described the "long-standing" practice of allowing Quebeckers to buy gasoline at the station without reporting to customs, and promised it would continue as long as new businesses were not added to the gasoline station. The gasoline station is next to the Canadian customs station, about 15 metres inside U.S. territory. But the U.S. customs post is about a kilometre away, so locals often bought fuel without checking in. Despite the written go-ahead from U.S. customs, Mr. Jalbert, 32, a forestry worker, was arrested when he filled up his tank at the station on Oct. 11. The border patrol agent found a hunting rifle in his vehicle and records revealed a 1989 conviction for breaking windows, for which he was fined $200. Mr. Jalbert remains in jail outside Bangor, Me., charged with entering the U.S. without reporting for inspection, and with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. His lawyer, John Haddow, says prosecutors have refused to negotiate and Mr. Jalbert could face two to three months in prison. But Mr. Haddow said yesterday the letter from the U.S. Customs Service, produced by locals in Pohénégamook, indicates Mr. Jalbert had reason to believe he was never required to report to customs. The letter was written to the then-owner of the gasoline station, Gaston Ouellet, who was apparently considering adding a store to the station. Mr. Ingalls wrote to indicate a new store would not enjoy the same exception. "The present practice of allowing people to come to your gas station without reporting for inspection has been a practice of long standing," he wrote. He added that the exception was granted because a customs post had once been nearby, but added the exception would not extend to a store. "For the present, we are satisfied to let things remain as they are, i.e., no reporting if the customers are just coming to buy gas and return to Canada," Mr. Ingalls wrote. The federal prosecutor handling the case said the letter did not really make a difference to the case. "It doesn't have anything to do with the gas station, or buying gas. It has to do with the fact that he [Mr. Jalbert] has a criminal record in Canada, and therefore is inadmissible into the United States," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Love. Mr. Jalbert would have been denied entry at a border post, he added. However, Mr. Haddow noted that the charges against Mr. Jalbert have nothing to do with his criminal record, or whether he was considered admissible; they only have to do with whether he reported for inspection at the border. Mr. Ingalls' letter makes it reasonable for Canadians -- even those with criminal records -- to believe they can buy gasoline at the station without reporting to customs, he said. Mr. Jalbert also faces a gun charge for his hunting rifle, but Mr. Haddow noted that if he had reported to customs, he simply would have been turned back -- not jailed. At any rate, he said, Mr. Jalbert was on his way back to Canada after five minutes spent a few metres inside the United States. "They are taking a hard line on it, even though in the grand scheme of things it does seem that they are being hyper-technical," he said. | ||
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