Border agents make arrests

U. S. border agents in Niagara Falls arrested an Irish national earlier this month and laid charges of improper use of a passport and making false statements to law enforcement.

A 30- year- old woman crossed into Niagara Falls, N. Y., via train on Sunday and presented Customs and Border Protection officers with an Irish passport bearing the name Mariame Kourouma.

A check of the woman’s fingerprints, however, determined the traveller was not who she said she was. A further investigation revealed the woman had previously been denied entry to the U. S. at Rouses Point on Lake Champlain, and had been refused a visa at the U. S. consulate in Dublin.

Adam Doumbouya is set to return to a Buffalo, N. Y., court later this month to answer to the charges. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine.

In an unrelated case, Davor Goncin, of Croatia, pleaded guilty earlier this month in Buffalo to attempting to enter the U. S.

The 69- year- old crossed the Rainbow Bridge July 9 where border officers discovered he had previously been convicted of aggravated assault and was not welcome back in the U. S. Assistant U. S. attorney Stephanie Lamarque said Goncin was convicted of grand larceny in 2013. After serving his sentence, the defendant was deported from the U. S. and banned for life.

Goncin will return to court in February for sentencing. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine.