Morristown, NY - Israeli Student Swims River from Canada to Gain U.S. Entry

Morristown, NY - A Russian national reportedly swam across the St. Lawrence River from Brockville on Tuesday night in a scuba suit to enter the United States to attend college in New Jersey. Alexander Medvedev, 23, was charged with illegal entry, state police and the U.S. Border Patrol said.

Troopers went to the Parkway Express convenience store on Route 37 for a report of a suspicious man with a large backpack. The man had asked a store employee for directions to a nearby hotel, troopers said.

Mr. Medvedev told authorities he arrived in Canada from Israel on Oct. 30. He had spent a few days in Ottawa before taking a taxi to Brockville, troopers said. He had been attending college in Israel when he traveled to Canada. He then swam across the river to a spot in Morristown. Troopers said they did not know which New Jersey college he wanted to attend.

He was expected to be arraigned in U.S. District Court, Plattsburgh, in the coming days, a Border Patrol agent said. Mr. Medvedev is in Clinton County jail, Plattsburgh, state records show.