A man who was allegedly armed and wearing body armor when he drove through the Calais border crossing in July has pleaded guilty.
Jason Brenner, 52, whose residence has been listed as in New Jersey and Georgia, entered his guilty plea to failure to report and present for inspection Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Brenner drove a black 2011 BMW with New Jersey plates across the border into Canada about 11:13 p.m. on July 1. But when he was approached by Canadian border guards, Brenner allegedly made a U-turn and drove the wrong way down the international bridge back toward the United States, according to court documents.
At the same time, a tractor-trailer was driving across the bridge from the U.S. to Canada.
Brenner didn’t stop at the crossing for U.S. border agents, according to court documents.
He continued onto Route 1 into Baring, where a Customs and Border Protection officer spotted him and tried to catch up with Brenner.
Police in Baileyville later clocked Brenner going 112 mph along Route 1, Alfred Aldoyn, a supervisory Customs and Border Protection officer, wrote in an affidavit.
Brenner eventually crashed in the woods off Route 1 in Indian Township, where local police had earlier clocked him going 128 mph, according to court documents.
Two Customs and Border Protection agents found Brenner standing in the woods with a loaded semi-automatic pistol on the ground next to him. After placing him under arrest, officers found Brenner was wearing steel-plated body armor and a .22-caliber revolver and knife in the BMV.
The BMW belonged to Brenner’s girlfriend, who told officers that he had told her that he was “going to Maine.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge John Nivison on July 9 ordered Brenner to remain behind bars until trial, agreeing with prosecutors that he posed a flight risk. His trial was originally set for Sept. 9.
Brenner faces up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $100,000 and up to one year of supervised release. He will be sentenced at a later date after a federal magistrate judge considers the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
