MiddletownJournal.com

A Hamilton soldier faces up to three years in prison for not declaring that he had a firearm while crossing the Canadian border.

Army Cpl. Kevin Shope, a 25-year-old Hamilton High School graduate, was arrested July 8 by Canada Border Service agents and is in jail awaiting a bail hearing set for Friday, July 18, in Sarnia, Ontario, officials said.

Shope was arrested because he didn't declare that he had a pistol, said Canadian Federal Prosecutor Michael Robb. A law changed by the Canadian Parliament went into effect in May that stiffened the penalty from one year to three years in prison, Robb said.

"We take a very different view of weapons than the United States," Robb said.

If Shope had told customs agents about the firearm when asked, Robb said he would have had three choices: leave it and pick it up upon returning; ship it to a U.S. address; or turn around and go back to the States.

Hamilton resident David Shope, Kevin's father, said his son was taking a shortcut while on his way from Michigan to Fort Drum military base in New York; and that his son had dropped off his child with grandparents in Michigan and was heading to the military base to wait for his wife, stationed in Germany.

Kevin Shope is scheduled to return to active duty in January, but a court date could take up to a year, David Shope said.

William Harvey, commander of the American Legion Post 138, said he is organizing a letter-writing campaign on Kevin Shope's behalf.

"We're trying to call everyone we can think of to help him," Harvey said. "He's sure not a felon."