Jail for man who entered the US at Niagara border

By Alison Langley, Niagara Falls Review
Thursday, March 2, 2017 4:03:47 EST PM

A man who had been banned from entering the United States for life after being convicted of a sex offence involving a minor will spend the next 16 months behind bars after trying to sneak back into the U.S. at the Niagara border.

Alfredo DePina, 27, was sentenced in a Buffalo court this week after being convicted of attempting to re-enter the United States after having been deported.

DePina is a citizen of Cape Verde, an archipelago located off the western coast of Africa, attempted to enter the U.S. aboard a train at Niagara Falls in August 2016.

An electronic name query by Customs and Border Protection officers and a subsequent fingerprint match confirmed the defendant was deported in August 2010 and barred for life after he was convicted in Massachusetts of inducing a person under 18 to have sexual intercourse.

In an unrelated matter, Abdoulaye Barry, a resident of Guinea, was arrested at the Rainbow Bridge Monday and charged with possessing a fraudulent passport and aggravated identity theft.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Lamarque said a 22-year-old woman gave customs officials a fake U.S. passport card after she crossed the bridge.

The card, which contained the woman’s photograph, bore the name and passport card number of another individual.

She also had a fraudulent Ohio driver’s license bearing her photograph but the name of someone else, as well as a Florida driver’s license bearing the name and photograph of another person.

The charges carry a minimum penalty of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Also on Monday, an Austrian man was arrested at the Rainbow Bridge and charged with making a false statement to a U.S. federal officer.

Officials say a man, who had previously been removed from the U.S., attempted to enter the country after crossing the Rainbow Bridge.

The traveler did not have consent of the Attorney General of the United States or the Secretary of Homeland Security, which is required when a person has previously been deported.

Yaacov Yosef Deutsch, also known as Jakob Deutsch, 48, was charged with unlawful re-entry of a removed alien and making a false statement to a federal officer. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years and a $250,000 fine.

http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/201...niagara-border