BANGOR – A Canadian man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to nine months or time served in jail for smuggling 142 OxyContin pills across the border.

Thomas Michael Daigle, 31, of Oak Bay, New Brunswick, was expected to be returned to Canada late Thursday.

He also could be barred from re-entering the United States.

Daigle, who had been held without bail since his arrest, pleaded guilty last year to importation of OxyContin.

He faced up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

Daigle was spotted a year ago in the parking lot of a Calais variety store after an electronic intrusion device on the Milltown railroad trestle was activated. When a Calais police officer stopped Daigle and patted him down, he found 142 OxyContin pills in his pocket.

He told police, according to court documents, that he had planned to deliver the pills to a person in the United States.