New Brunswick Man Pleads Guilty to Crossing into U.S. Unlawfully Carrying Controlled Substance

BANGOR, Maine: A Canadian national pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Bangor to unlawfully entering into the United States from Canada and importing a controlled substance.

According to court records, in September 2024, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Van Buren station stopped Nathan Paul Curran-McQuade, 31, in Caswell for illegally entering the United States from Canada. Agents encountered Curran-McQuade while he was operating an ATV on a trail bordering Canada that was marked with international boundary signs. When stopped by the agents, Curran-McQuade had approximately 14 grams of methamphetamine on his person as well as marijuana in a mason jar in his backpack. He claimed to be traveling to a store in Caswell to get gas and that the drugs were for personal use.   

Curran-McQuade faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million for the controlled substance charge and up to 180 days in jail and up to a $5,000 fine for crossing the border illegally. Any sentence would be followed up three years of supervised release. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.

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