A Jesuit priest has been charged with trying to smuggle an illegal Irish immigrant into the US.
Fr James Pribeck was arrested with a 48-year-old Irishman on the New York-Canadian border after allegedly trying to smuggle the man into the US in his car.
Fr Pribeck (43) is an assistant English professor at Canisius College in Buffalo and has a doctorate from UCD.
He has been released on bail and will face another hearing in the next month, said his lawyer, Stewart Jones jnr.
Mr Jones said Fr Pribeck would be pleading innocent and that the case was "on a holding pattern" while federal authorities continued their investigation.
Fr Pribeck was charged with allowing an illegal alien into the country - a charge that carries a five-year sentence - after allegedly carrying the man as a passenger in his car on May 1st.
He is a well-known figure in Irish Jesuit circles and keeps strong contacts with Ireland.
The US Customs and Border Patrol has named the Irish passenger as James Daly, who had allegedly been living in Boston intermittently until recent years.
Assistant US attorney James Woods said Fr Pribeck was facing a serious charge that could lead to jail time, and Mr Daly would be deported after serving up to two years in prison if convicted.
The Irish Times was unable to contact a spokesman for the Jesuit headquarters in Dublin.