BANGOR, Maine — A Canadian man and woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to resisting arrest at different border crossings in separate incidents 11 days apart.
Brian J. Nadeau, 41, who resides in Connors Township in Aroostook County, was released on $5,000 unsecured bail with conditions that he obtain mental health treatment, surrender his passport, check in daily with U.S. Probation and Pre-trial Services, not possess a gun or other dangerous weapons and remain within 20 miles of Bangor.
Patricia Eve Strong, 27, of Ontario was ordered held without bail pending the outcome of her case. Her jury trial was scheduled for July 6.
Strong was arrested on Thursday, June 10, when she refused to be fingerprinted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the new Calais border crossing. According to court documents, Strong was on a bus bound for Bangor when she was removed from it and placed in custody for giving evasive answers to questions and having no visible means of support.
She has not said why she refused to be fingerprinted.
Nadeau, who is a permanent resident alien of the United States, was arrested May 30 at the Fort Kent border crossing. He allegedly refused to submit to arrest on two outstanding warrants out of Penobscot County for criminal mischief and unpaid fines.
He also was suspected of brandishing a gun in front of children in a Fort Kent park the day before his arrest. Nadeau has not been charged in relation to a report made by parents to Fort Kent police, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.
“The children who originally reported this to their parents cannot say definitively that he had a gun,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Casey told U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk on Tuesday. “They believe he was holding something but can’t say exactly what it was.”
Nadeau has denied that he took a gun to the park, according to his attorney, Don Brown of Brewer.
Casey said Tuesday the conditions of Nadeau’s release were sufficient to ensure the safety of the community.
Before he could be released, Nadeau also paid $160 bail on the Penobscot County charges. He is scheduled to appear at the Penobscot Judicial Center on those charges July 9.
Nadeau was released to the custody of a sister last week so he could be evaluated for possible admission to one of Bangor’s two mental health hospitals. He did not meet the criteria for inpatient treatment, so he was returned to jail to await Tuesday’s hearing, Kravchuk said.
Strong could not be released, the judge found, because she does not have permanent alien resident status and has no apparent ties to the United States and no one to take custody of her while she awaits trial. Immigration officials also have filed paperwork seeking her removal from the country.
In addition to the federal charge in the U.S., Strong is facing theft and resisting arrest charges in Provincial Court on Prince Edward Island, Spencer Christie of U.S. Probation and Pre-trial Services testified Tuesday. She was scheduled today to make a first appearance on those charges.
Information about what led to those charges was not available Tuesday.
If convicted, each defendant faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.