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Ex-8th District congressman claims he was human smuggler
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| Contributor | RBH |
| Last Edited | RBH Aug 11, 2010 04:45pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Sunday, August 8, 2010 10:45:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | A former Indiana congressman whose career derailed in an alcohol-related crash in 1982 says he spent four months smuggling Brazilian families across the Canadian border in hopes of finding better lives.
In an online book about his experiences, Joel Deckard, 68, calls the eight trips he made into Canada with undocumented Brazilian workers and their families in late 2007 and early 2008 "the most interesting of my life."
Canadian officials familiar with the sites described in the book and with illegal immigrant crossings say Deckard's accounts are credible. "Incidents like that are a common occurrence," said Kirk Martin, sheriff of the county featured in the book.
Deckard, who served four terms in the Indiana House of Representatives and represented the 8th District for two terms, approached The Herald-Times of Bloomington with his story in hopes of drumming up interest in his book, the newspaper reported.
Deckard told the newspaper that he got involved in smuggling while working in Jacksonville, Fla., where he ran a transportation company after a serious of professional and personal setbacks following the 1982 crash in Posey County that helped Democrat Frank McCloskey defeat Deckard for the congressional seat. |
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