Detroit Releases Formerly Deported Man Who Swam From Canada To Detroit

Christopher Sagajllo won his release after a wait that lasted for two months. The 56-year-old permanent Canadian resident was arrested in December after he swam the Detroit River from Canada.

According to the Associated Press, Sagajllo has been cleared by U.S. District Judge Linda Parker after remaining in the country’s custody since his arrest. He will soon be allowed to return to his residence in St. Catherines, Ontario.

Sagajllo was arrested after he was discovered by the security personnel of a steel company in south Detroit’s Zug Island. He was charged by the Detroit federal court of unlawful re-entry to the country.

Defense attorney Benton Martin said Sagajllo was “not a dangerous individual,” and while the accused declined to speak in court, he said in a letter that he swam to the U.S. to deliver books to four recipients in the country.

In his letter, Sagajllo further noted that his religious faith propelled him to swim from Canada to Detroit, believing that if he didn’t do so, “something terrible would happen to me in the future.”

During a search in the site where he landed after swimming across the Detroit River in a wetsuit, investigators soon found the suit he wore, some plastic bags, and a pair of gloves.

At the time of his arrest, FOX News reported that Sagajllo was deported to the United Kingdom from Chicago in 2010. The reason for his deportation was overstaying in the country for seven years after his visa expired.

Things have since been clearer since the day of Sagajllo’s arrest as he also said in the letter submitted to the federal court that he was turned away at the U.S.-Canada border by immigration authorities.

Sagajllo noted that he was turned away at the Niagara Falls border due to his previous deportation case 10 years earlier. It is unclear whether the books Sagajllo was seeking to deliver were found or if they reached the supposed recipients.

Aside from the immigration issues that Sagajllo was faced with in his attempts to re-enter the United States, there was also the possibility of life-threatening events that could have occurred during his river-swimming spree.

Shortly after news of Sagajllo’s arrest emerged, the London Free Press reported that the Windsor Port Authority has been warning people of the dangers that swimming in the Detroit River brought.

Zug Island, where Sagajllo emerged from the water, is just across the Windsor Brighton Beach and the said area is considered one of the narrowest sections of the river.