LK. Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Saturday, August 06, 2005 - Bangor Daily News BANGOR - A Canadian man's visit to his mother's deathbed will cost him a year and a day of freedom. Joseph Russell Taylor, 47, of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court to federal prison for entering the country illegally after he had been deported. Tayler crossed the border so he could visit his dying mother in Attleboro, Mass. He also was ordered to surrender to immigration officials for deportation back to Canada after his release. Taylor's attorney, Stephen Smith of Bangor, urged U.S. District Judge John Woodcock to sentence the Canadian to the eight months he had been held at the Piscataquis County Jail awaiting resolution of his case. Assistant U.S Attorney James McCarthy, who prosecuted the case, recommended the sentence the judge imposed. The recommended guideline range for Taylor's crime was 12 to 18 months in prison. "This is a difficult case ... because it's such a human case," Woodcock said in denying Smith's motion. "It reflects the obligation children feel toward their parents and, in particular, the obligation a son feels toward a mother who's dying and needs him. What he did is fully understandable, but as a matter of law, it is not excused." Taylor was arrested on Oct. 14 at the Calais border when inspectors with U.S. Customs and Border Protection boarded the bus he was on. In a conversation with border agents, Taylor denied that he had ever lived in or been convicted of a crime in the U.S., according to court documents. The Canadian, who first crossed the border at Calais when he was 19 months old, was deported to Canada in 1995 after he was convicted of drug charges in Providence, R.I. Since then, he has been forbidden from re-entering the U.S. without permission. Taylor was released last year on $1,000 cash bail a few days after his arrest so he could attend to his mother, Phyllis Taylor. While on bail, he wore an electronic monitoring bracelet and surrendered to authorities on Dec. 6 after her funeral. She died on Nov. 28 at home in Attleboro, Mass., at the age of 75. On Friday, four of Taylor's siblings as well as his wife urged Woodcock to sentence the man to time served. "Our family should bear some of the responsibility for his crime," Taylor's sister, Jo-Ann Baillargeon of Cumberland, R.I., told the court. "She was sick for a very long time. She couldn't talk, but cried when she saw his picture. ... We begged him to come home." Taylor wiped tears from his eyes as his brother and sisters, all of whom live in the United States, spoke on his behalf. "I apologize to the court," he told Woodcock. "I didn't think I had enough time to find a different way across the border." http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=117700 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aristotle-dude Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 People have forgotten about the spirit of the law. Is that state under the Napoleonic code? If not, the Judge should have known that the original intent of laws under the common law system were to be guidelines, not a rigid set of rules. Where is the mercy? Where is the humanity? Criminal law is supposed to tempered by considering motive and intent. Was this man intent on harming others or society? What was his motivations? Was it to flaunt the law or simply to visit his dying mother? I would believe the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golazo Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 that's hogwash, how can you send a man to prison for that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bawx Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Woot I live in Mass. Poor guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jooface Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Maybe if he hadn't trafficked drugs and been banned from the US he could have gotten in legally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhangm Supervisor Posted August 7, 2005 Supervisor Share Posted August 7, 2005 Reminds me of O'Connor's speech when she stepped down. The Spirit of Justice is dead. :no: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popsandthefamily Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 lol THIS, is the only news my beautiful state of Maine attracts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mufdvr3669 Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 He was forbidden from reentering the US unless he had permission. He knew what he was doing trying to sneak in, in the article it said she had been sick for a very long time. He should of asked for permission, so he really gets what he deserves for being stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aristotle-dude Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Maybe if he hadn't trafficked drugs and been banned from the US he could have gotten in legally? 586337498[/snapback] Maybe if they government was not earning money from collecting taxes on the trafficking of tobacco and alcohol, you might have a point. You guys are way too harsh on small time guys. How about taking down the big guys who are also involved in murder and racketeering? Oh, I forgot, campaign financing. :p They cannot **** off the big mob bosses eh? mufdvr3669, how do you know that he did not try that already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexcyn Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 GG USA. That's all I have to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mufdvr3669 Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 mufdvr3669, how do you know that he did not try that already? 586337591[/snapback] I was going under the assumption that they didn't mention it anywhere. Figure they would of since it would have added to the story that he had tried to ask nicely but was denied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiveMasterT Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 poor guy... i hope they send him home. seriously, thats rediculous that they would throw him in jail because of that. i could see if he was doing something really illegal here, again, but going to see his dying mother? i guess the legal system really is the heartless ******s i thought they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revvo Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 I bet if that happened to the Judge WoodCock they would let him go. Yes, he crossed the border illegaly but lets take a look at the scenario... His MOTHER is DYING. It's in situations like those that I wish that Johnnie Cochran could still be alive to pwnt the **** out of these judges. They wouldn't stand a chance against the Chewbacca Defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoXY Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 feel for the guy.... but the law is the law...:/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strekship Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 They didn't say what he was deported for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yusuf M. Veteran Posted August 7, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 7, 2005 He probably did something bad in the past, it said that he was deported. Maybe if it was someone else they would've given a lighter punishment or maybe no punishment at all. The man was visiting his dying mother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugwhump Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Reading comprehension isn't what it used to be. The Canadian, who first crossed the border at Calais when he was 19 months old, was deported to Canada in 1995 after he was convicted of drug charges in Providence, R.I. Since then, he has been forbidden from re-entering the U.S. without permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mufdvr3669 Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 (edited) Reading comprehension isn't what it used to be. 586338442[/snapback] :yes: Nobody cares to read, only skims the article, the feels the need to make an unintelligent post. Did anybody ever figure out why was he crossing the border to get back into the US??? ;) Edited August 7, 2005 by mufdvr3669 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mufdvr3669 Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 GG USA. That's all I have to say. 586337619[/snapback] Whose fault was it that he didn't ask permission to reenter the US, Way to go smart canadians!!!! :woot: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wado Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 My heart goes out to his family. But he did break the law, he was convicted and he tried to break the law again. He knew he wasn't allowed back into the country but he tried to get in. I can't blame him for trying, I would too under the circumstances, but I would also accept my punishment if I was caught. The judge wasn't without compassion but he is obligated to uphold the law and the guy's family understood the situation, it seems as though they felt they placed him in a no win situation...sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Firstly, he was 19 years old back then, he's now much older, still in the immature to mature phases, and furthermore, this is just rubbish, visiting a extremely close family member, and perhaps he did apply for coming over but got rejected, there can be many reasons, all i can say is the law in general is rubbish and is one of the most dumbest things ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mufdvr3669 Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Firstly, he was 19 years old back then, he's now much older, still in the immature to mature phases, and furthermore, this is just rubbish, visiting a extremely close family member, and perhaps he did apply for coming over but got rejected, there can be many reasons, all i can say is the law in general is rubbish and is one of the most dumbest things ever. 586338516[/snapback] :whistle: I believe that is he did try to seek permission to come over to the US it would of said so in the article. It would of added to the story, making the US courts seem worse. Perhaps he is some stupid kid who thought he could sneak across without getting caught, fully knowing what would happen if he did get caught. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurë Veteran Posted August 7, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 7, 2005 How petty. The law is an ass. Clearly he broke the law, and should have been convicted and punished in some way, but sending him to prison really isn't necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXiao Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 i feel sympathetic toward him, but the law is the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strekship Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 The US is really cracking down on the boarders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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