A BERMUDIAN who motored a stolen boat from Canada to Maine in an attempt to gain illegal entry into the United States was this week handed a 60-day prison sentence.

Jeremy Gene Whitecross was found lying in a ditch near a cannery in Robbinston, Maine by US authorities. Border patrol agents were alerted of his presence by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The 30 year old was refused entry into the United States at the Calais border crossing, because of a string of convictions for fraud, cheque forgery and theft in Bermuda, dating back to 1993.

He is believed to have last been in court in Bermuda two years ago, charged with stealing, forging and uttering a cheque in the amount of $600.

As then explained in Magistrates' Court by Crown counsel Shade Subair, Whitecross was given access to his landlord's house so that he might do odd jobs for him. He stole the cheque from the premises and, when he realised he'd been caught, returned and begged his landlord not to press charges.

Whitecross attributed the incident to various pressures, saying he was a single father and the mother of his son was a drug addict.

"My girlfriend was away with her brother and she was calling me up crying for money," he told the court. "I was under pressure and I didn't know what to do. I've been out of jail for about five years. I didn't collect the $600. I didn't steal the cheques, I found them in the yard."

Accused of being a drug addict himself by Magistrate Carlisle Greaves, Whitecross insisted: "I used to be on drugs heavy but I'm clean now."

On July 16, however, his criminal record saw Whitecross refused entry into the United States.

The attempt started in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. There he stole a boat which he subsequently motored up the St. Croix River to Robbinston, the Sun Journal reported. He was caught on July 17 while attempting to enter Maine.

"He was apparently trying to cross the border because his father lives in the United States," US Attorney F. Todd Lowell was reported as saying by the Sun Journal.

Whitecross was sentenced in US District Court on Tuesday. In addition to the 60 days in jail, he was placed on probation for a year and ordered to pay $100 assessment. He will be deported to Bermuda once he gets out of prison.