BANGOR – Keith Martin allegedly didn’t know he was a wanted man when he crossed the border at Houlton late last year. Since he was questioned and released in October 2000 by U.S. Border Patrol agents, the Maliseet Indian had left his home in Burnt Church, New Brunswick, to visit family in Maine several times.

Each time, Martin, 28, who has dual citizenship in the United States and Canada, crossed the border without incident, according to his attorney, Jon Haddow of Bangor. On Dec. 28, however, Martin was arrested on an outstanding warrant for helping three people enter the country illegally five years ago.

Martin waived indictment on Monday and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to smuggling aliens across the border in October 2000. A sentencing date has not been set.

Martin remains free on $5,000 cash bail but may not travel outside the state. He is staying with relatives in Hartland, Haddow said Wednesday.

He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. In his plea agreement with prosecutors, however, he is expected to be sentenced to between six and 12 months in federal prison under the sentencing guidelines.

Border Patrol agents questioned Martin on Oct. 30, 2000, after he, two Maylasians and a Chinese national were picked up by border agents at a home in Orient, according to court documents. Officials were alerted by a homeowner, whose house is on East Grand Lake, that a man who was soaking wet had knocked on his back door and asked to use the telephone because his car had broken down.

When agents arrived, they followed footprints in the snow and mud to a home about a half mile away. Inside, they found Martin; Chih Chen Yen, a Chinese national; Lee Koon Low and Yen H. L., a juvenile, both of Malaysia.

Edward Francis of Burnt Church, New Brunswick, the man Martin called for assistance, was discovered a short time later driving very slowly on the Boundary Line Road in Orient. He told agents, according to court documents, that he was looking for a friend whose car had broken down.

Martin, according to court documents, told agents that he had agreed to bring the three into the country in a boat across East Grand Lake. He told agents that he got wet when he jumped into the lake as it began drifting in the current and pulled the boat to the U.S. shore. They then began knocking on doors so Martin could call Francis to pick them up.

Low told agents that she and the juvenile a few weeks earlier in Toronto had contacted Chen who agreed to help them find work in the U.S., according to court documents. The trio met Martin in Miramichi, New Brunswick, then boarded the boat.

The juvenile immediately was turned over to immigration officials. Chen and Low were deported after being sentenced to 15 days in jail or time served after pleading guilty in November 2000 to concealment of facts about re-entry. Charges against Francis are pending, according to court documents.