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Man arrested after St. Clair River crossing
Suspect is felon; wet pants make officers suspicious

By MOLLY MONTAG
Times Herald

A Jamaican citizen arrested Sunday night in Algonac faces up to 20 years in prison for sneaking into the United States, border officials said Tuesday.

Alwyn Green, 32, was charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit with re-entry after removal, said Kurstan Rossberg, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Algonac police arrested Green, a convicted felon, about 8 p.m. after responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of Rite Aid, 402 Pointe Tremble Road, or M-29.
Occupants of the vehicle told police they needed directions to Detroit. Officers left but saw a man run across M-29 and get into the vehicle.

Officers became suspicious, Rossberg said, when they noticed Green's pants were wet from the knees down.

Authorities believe the man crossed into the United States from Canada by taking a boat across the St. Clair River. Rite Aid is adjacent to the river's North Channel.

"(Green) claims that he entered through a port of entry in Florida, but there are no records to verify that," Rossberg said.

Rossberg said Green served prison time in 1996 for conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Virginia. In 2004, he served prison time in California for selling marijuana.

He was deported from the United States after serving both prison terms, Rossberg said.

The three people in the vehicle Green got into were not charged.

Green is in custody of the U.S. Marshal Service.

Algonac police Sgt. Ed Silver said city residents regularly report illegal aliens along the St. Clair River. The reports include sightings of people walking along the boardwalk with suitcases and reports of abandoned belongings.

Contact Molly Montag at (810) 989-6275 or mmontag@ gannett.com