MISSOULA — A Jamaican national who admitted to illegally crossing into Montana from Canada and was arrested with others near Whitefish after a car chase has been sentenced to two years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Christopher White, 45, also known as Gregory White, Jahnyi Foster and Raymond White, pleaded guilty on April 12 to illegal reentry of a deported or removed alien.
U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.
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 re-enter 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 along with two others in a vehicle, was arrested after a 75-mile car chase in which a defendant, Rastesfaye Neil, was the driver. Neil pleaded guilty to charges and is pending sentencing.
Border Patrol agents located a Nissan Sentra leaving the area where three subjects had illegally 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, and the Nissan 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 investigated the case.
