Jamaican national arrested in Canada border crossing near Eureka admits immigration crime

 MISSOULA — A Jamaican national who crossed into Montana from Canada and was arrested with others near Whitefish after a 75-mile car case admitted to an immigration charge today, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson said.

Christopher White, 41, also known as Gregory White, Jahnyi Foster and Raymond White, pleaded guilty to illegal reentry of a deported or removed alien. White faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided. White was detained pending further proceedings. Sentencing was set for Aug. 12 before U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen.

In court documents filed in the case, the government alleged that White, a Jamaican national, was removed from the United States in March 2020 through New York to Canada. White did not have permission from the Department of Homeland Security to reenter the United States. On Jan. 23, White returned to the United States near West Kootenai, near Eureka, and not a port of entry. White, who was a passenger in a vehicle, was arrested after a 75-mile car chase in which a defendant, Rastesfaye Neil, was the driver. Neil has pleaded not guilty to charges.

The government further alleged that on Jan. 23, at about 8:55 a.m., the Spokane Sector Border Patrol Dispatch received information that three subjects dressed in camouflage and dark clothing and carrying black backpacks were crossing the border from Canada into the United States near the area of West Kootenai.

Border Patrol agents located a Nissan Sentra on West Kootenai road leaving the area where the three subjects had crossed over the international boundary. The agents attempted to stop the vehicle, and the Nissan eventually pulled to the side of the road. As agents approached the vehicle on foot, the Nissan sped away and headed southeast on Highway 93. Law enforcement ultimately deployed a vehicle immobilization device on the Nissan, and it came to a stop down a small embankment off the highway north of Whitefish. Law enforcement arrested the four occupants.

The Border Patrol, Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Eureka Police Department, Whitefish Police Department and Montana Highway Patrol.