Quebec Man on Gas Run Winds Up in U.S. JailMon Nov 4, 9:01 AM ET[/b]BANGOR, Maine (Reuters) - A Canadian woodcutter arrested during a routine trip across the U.S. border to buy gasoline has become the victim of intensified security in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, his lawyer said on Friday.
Michel Jalbert drove from his hometown of Pohenegamook, Quebec to Estcourt Station, Maine to fill up on cheap American gas before a hunting trip. As he was leaving the station, U.S. border patrol agents arrested him for illegally entering the country with a firearm.
"He's become the poster boy for stricter enforcement of border laws," Bangor attorney Jon Haddow told Reuters about his client, who speaks no English and is being held in a Maine jail.
The residents of Pohenegamook, including Jalbert, have for years nipped over the border to buy gasoline at the Gazbar gas station, which sits on U.S. soil about a mile before the U.S. Customs checkpoint.
In the past, Canadians would drive in to the station, fill up their tanks, and drive back home -- never bothering to register at the U.S. checkpoint further down the road. U.S. border agents tended to look the other way.
But on Oct. 11, they zeroed in on Jalbert, who was carrying a gun and who has a criminal record in Canada, Harrow said. Jalbert could be jailed for up to 10 years if convicted on the felony charges facing him.
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