2nd UK citizen found on Golden Road pleads guilty to illegally entering the US

By Marie Weidmayer, Bangor Daily News Staff

A man from the United Kingdom pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally entering the United States.

Ibrahim Ayyub Khan, 26, of Great Britain, pleaded guilty Tuesday to entry without inspection in U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor. He admitted to walking into Maine from Canada on April 3, without presenting at the nearby border crossing, according to court records.

Another man, Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, pleaded guilty to the same charge on April 23. Two other men, Hameed Mohammed Nagi and Mohammed Sultan Saleh pleaded not guilty April 7 and have not changed their plea.

The men were found after maple sugar workers called U.S. Customs and Border Protection because they saw four men who appeared to be Middle Eastern walking on the Golden Road, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Khan crossed the border within a few hundred yards of the St. Zacharie border crossing in western Maine, according to court records filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Casey. A video taken by one of the men shows them announcing that they have arrived on U.S. soil.

Khan’s attorney, Chris Nielsen, had previously asked the court to suppress information from a more than two-hour interrogation because Khan’s Miranda rights were violated because he was not given access to a lawyer. 

Nielsen withdrew the motion when Khan decided to plead guilty, according to court records.

Khan asked to be sentenced on Tuesday, but Casey said there are facts that need to be cleared up first. 

About a year ago, Khan attempted to enter the U.S. under a different name, Casey said. It is unclear if Khan or the other name is the real name of the defendant, Casey said. 

“I’m not in a position to tell the court why exactly Mr. Khan was coming here or assure the court that the FBI has looked into matters to assure itself that Mr. Khan was coming here for a particular purpose,” Casey said.

The FBI searched Khan’s phone, which he provided, and did not find anything that “suggested there was a plan to do something bad imminently,” Casey said.

Khan’s search history did include things about if he could get a special travel visa “if you’ve been arrested for robbery,” and “Can someone who entered the U.S. illegally ever get U.S. citizenship?” and “How can we change our fingerprints temporarily,” Casey said. 

Nothing on the phone suggested Khan was planning “violent mischief,” but there are things that concern the government about why he was coming into the U.S., Casey said.

Those searches don’t show anything nefarious about why Khan entered the country, Nielsen said. Khan’s family immigrated from the Middle East to the United Kingdom in the 1960s, according to his attorney.

Khan is a part owner of a U.K. restaurant that specializes in American cuisine because he loves the U.S., Nielsen wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

“Had he a choice, he would want to become a citizen of the United States, however he realizes that his lapse of judgement that resulting in the current single count complaint has forever complicated those ambitions,” Nielsen wrote.

Khan wants to be sentenced to time served, so he can enter immigration court and be returned to his home country, Nielsen said.

Khan will be sentenced at a later date, Judge John Nivison said.