CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Pawel Aleksander Grodkowski, 53, of Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with eluding examination or inspection by immigration officers. The charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles M. Kruly, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, at 8:50 a.m., on April 14, 2022, Grodkowski was observed on a security video monitor kneeling down on the pedestrian walkway on the U.S. side of Peace Bridge Port of Entry. Two Customs and Border Protection officers approached Grodkowski and noticed a pair of wire cutters protruding from a bag he was carrying. Grodkowski was escorted to secondary for further inspection and subsequently arrested. Security video showed Grodkowski climbing a security fence and cutting three separate stands of barbed wire. A search of Grodkowski’s bag recovered a pair of wire cutters.
The complaint further states that Grodkowski also entered the U.S. in a similar fashion in August and September of 2021. Wire cutters were also discovered on the Peace Bridge pedestrian walkway by CBP officers during those months.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by Customs and Border Protection, under the direction of Director of Field Operations Rose Brophy.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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