Northern Kentucky man faces fine for violating Canada's Quarantine Act
A Northern Kentucky man traveled to a Canadian resort for some fun.
Instead, he got a visit from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for violating Canada's Quarantine Act – and now faces big fines and possible jail time.
John Pennington, 40, of Walton, was fined $1,200 on June 25 after staff at a Banff hotel called the police saying they believed the U.S. citizen was violating quarantine laws during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He could also face a fine of up to $750,000 or six months in jail.
Americans are not allowed in Canada. But, many have used a loophole to travel through Canada on the way to and from Alaska.
“RCMP attended the hotel and as a result of their investigation, they found a second individual in his presence, a female from Calgary, and found him to be breaching the requirements to quarantine while he traveled through Alberta so he was issued a ticket under the Alberta Public Health Act,” said RCMP Cpl. Tammy Keibel in Calgary.
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He flew to Seattle and traveled to Canada and Alaska he said in the video. He said he didn't understand why police visited his hotel room after he was approved by border patrol. Local police didn't stop him and the hotel allowed him to check-in.
"I thought I was good to go," he said in the video. He added that he would have understood if the hotel told him he wasn't allowed to stay when he booked the room.
In the comments, someone asked him how he was able to pass border patrol. He said he told patrol officers that he was traveling for "transit purposes" with a winky emoji.
Drivers are allowed a reasonable period of stay to make the transit [to Alaska] and are limited to travel within Canada using the most direct route to Alaska.
They are barred from driving through national parks, leisure sites, and tourism locations and receive a hang tag for their rear-view mirror indicating the date they must depart Canada.
Keibel said officers received a second complaint about the Northern Kentucky man the next day when someone spotted a car with American plates in a parking lot near the gondola to Sulphur Mountain.
“They located Mr. Pennington up on Sulphur Mountain. As a result of him again allegedly being in violation of the quarantine through his travels, there was some consultation with a quarantine officer in Calgary and the decision was made to charge Mr. Pennington under the federal Quarantine Act,” Keibel said.
“He was arrested and subsequently released for a court date in November.”
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