Portland Press Herald
Sometimes enforcing the letter of the law produces results that seem a little odd, even though they can't be called unjust. Such is the situation that has left Michel Jalbert, a Canadian citizen, sitting in the Piscataquis County Jail after being arrested last month at a gas station in Estcourt Station, a tiny town at Maine's northern tip.
Jalbert, who reportedly came across the border every other week or so to avoid paying higher Canadian gas taxes, brought two things with him he shouldn't have: a gun and a felony conviction.
The gun was because Jalbert was hunting birds when he took a break to fill up. The conviction came from a 1990 trial for burglary and possession of stolen property. It meant he wouldn't have been allowed to cross the border if he'd checked first -- which he didn't. Jalbert was nabbed because, in this time of heightened border security, federal officials said he should have traveled a mile farther down the road to the U.S. Customs station to get permission to drive a mile back to buy gas.
When his record was checked, his entry-barring criminal past was disclosed and he has been held as a gun-toting illegal alien.
While federal prosecutors are considering formal charges that could carry a 10-year sentence, Jalbert's lawyer has come up with a decade-old Customs letter giving Canadians permission to cross the border if all they want is to buy gas.
Yes, things have changed since then. Whatever his record, however, Jalbert is no threat (unless you're a duck). His lawyer proposes that if he pleads guilty, he could be sentenced to time served and deported. Which means he would be sent home.
That's a "punishment" that fits his crime.