CHAMPLAIN — A Haitian citizen was arrested Friday and accused of improperly entering the country, providing incorrect information and witholding information.
Jean Erol Dort, 37, arrived at the Champlain Port of Entry, provided a Canadian passport as proof of citizenship and told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Operations officer that he was traveling to the New York City area to visit family for the weekend, according to a news release.
A primary record check indicated that the passport Dort presented may have been reported lost or stolen, and Dort was referred to secondary enforcement officers for verification of his immigration status.
During the secondary inspection, officers noticed that the photograph in the passport did not bear an exact resemblance to Dort.
A query of Dort's fingerprints revealed that he was not a Canadian citizen but a Hatian national who had been previously ordered deported from the United States.
Additional record checks by Customs and Border Protection officers revealed that Dort initially entered the United States illegally in December 2003 by boat through the Virgin Islands.
Dort was subsequently arrested and was ordered to be deported in 2008. During his appeal process, however, Dort fled to Canada, where he claimed refugee status.
When officers confronted him with the evidence, Dort allegedly recanted his original claim of Canadian citizenship and admitted that he was a Haitian citizen. He also allegedly admitted that the passport was not his, but belonged to a friend, and that his true intentions were to illegally seek employment in the United States.
Dort was taken into custody and charged with improper entry by an alien, misstatement and withholding material facts.
He was placed in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of New York.
— By Contributing Writer Casey Ryan Vock
Police, Fire, Courts
Police Log: March 16, 2010 — Border arrest
- Police, Fire, Courts
-
- Police Log: Feb. 13, 2012 — Felony arrest Plattsburgh woman charged with credit-card fraud.
- Police Log: Feb. 13, 2012 — Structure fire Barn at Peru Dairy Farm damaged in fire.
- Police Log: Feb. 13, 2012 — Personal-injury accident Plattsburgh woman hurt in Route 3 accident.
- Police Log: Feb. 13, 2012 — Accident Police car damaged in South Catherine Street accident.
-
One injured in Plattsburgh house fire
A female suffered second- and third-degree burns in a fire at her South Catherine Street home early Sunday.
- Police Log: Feb. 12, 2012 — Felony arrest Felony AUO Champlain.
- Police Log: Feb. 12, 2012 — Felony arrest Felony DWI North Elba.
- Police Log: Feb. 12, 2012 — Condition update Condition update, snowmobile accident
-
Attempted-murder trial set
The case against Robert J. McCann, who is charged with trying to kill his former girlfriend at a secluded Westville site, begins Tuesday in Franklin County Court.
-
Champlain snowmobile crash results in serious injuries
Douglas M. Tetreault and Robert Worrell were transferred to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington from CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh following the early morning accident along the Great Chazy River.
-
Fire at SUNY Canton shuts down campus
No one was hurt when flames erupted in Cook Hall on Friday, but students were sent home, and classes are canceled through next week.
-
Police Log: Feb. 11, 2012 — Felony arrest
A Ticonderoga man was arrested Wednesday allegedly linked to a Jan. 29 burglary.
-
Franklin County Court Sentencings: Feb. 11, 2012
Cases heard before Judge Robert G. Main Jr.
- Police Log: Feb. 10, 2012 — Personal-injury accident A Churubusco woman was injured in a one-car accident Wednesday.
- Police Log: Feb. 10, 2012 — Structure fire Plattsburgh Fire Department responded to a small fire at 11 Lorraine St. at around 5:50 p.m. Thursday.
- Police Log: Feb. 10, 2012 — Felony arrest Malone Police Department arrested two 19-year-old Malone men allegedly linked to a Jan. 11 incident.
-
Former Plattsburgh man sentenced for killing wife
Frank Dore, 57, of Bridgeport, Conn., was sentenced in court last week to 28 years in prison after killing his wife, Patti Rothermel-Dore, in their Connecticut home in 2010.
-
5 sex-crime cases heard in Franklin County
Five men recently appearing before the bench in Franklin County in separate incidents on charges involving rape, child porn and sexual contact with females as young as 6.
- Police Log: Feb. 9, 2012 — Felony arrest A Saranac man faces a felony charge after an alleged domestic dispute.
- Police Log: Feb. 9, 2012 — Felony arrest A Whitehall man faces charges of drunken driving.
-
Westport fire guts home
Teens escape early morning fire.
- More Police, Fire, Courts Headlines
