By Terry Miller
Beacon Media just received a curious press release from the Canada Border Patrol Services possibly refereing to a Sierra Madre man who was arrested in Novia Scotia on Oct 17, 2011. There has been some question of this individual’s whereabouts after his arrest and prior to the sentencing in Canada.
“The assertion that a traveler was admitted into the U.S. using solely a scanned image of his passport on an iPad is categorically false. In this case, the individual had both a driver’s license and birth certificate, which the CBP officer used to determine identity and citizenship in order to admit the traveler into the country.
Since June 1, 2009, U.S. and Canadian citizens entering the U.S. by land or sea from within the Western Hemisphere are required to present a valid, WHTI-compliant document, which includes a passport, U.S. Passport card, Trusted Traveler card (NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST/EXPRES, or Global Entry), or enhanced driver’s license/enhanced identification card. Scanned or digital images of WHTI-compliant documents are not accepted forms of identification. If a traveler does not present WHTI-compliant documents, CBP officers must determine identity and citizenship using a variety of other means, or deny entry.”
The statement comes in light of evidence that a convicted child pornography smuggler was sighted in Sierra Madre on or about Thanksgiving.
The man arrested and detained in Canada, Bob Matheson, was not allowed to leave the country before his sentencing which was on December 13.
According to Canada officials, there is no evidence that Matheson left the country between the time he was arrested and the time he was convicted.