Court officials said a man who is considered an illegal alien though his family moved to Chattanooga soon after he was born may face deportation for a second time.
Matthew Alan Wheeler, 32, was given a new 41-month sentence in Federal Court on Monday.
However, Judge Sandy Mattice said he will leave it up to immigration officials "to sort out" the deportation issue after his release from prison.
The new sentence is for an aggravated robbery in East Ridge last November. The robbery case was reduced to a misdemeanor. He earlier served nine years for carjacking.
Anthony Martinez of the federal defender's office said Wheeler "is not your typical illegal immigrant" after Judge Mattice noted his "Tennessee twang" instead of a British accent.
Attorney Martinez said Wheeler "never corrected the paperwork" and is still considered a citizen of the United Kingdom.
He said after the completion of the carjacking term, he was sent to London, where "he doesn't know anyone" except a paternal grandfather who would not have anything to do with him. He said on the streets of London, Wheeler "became homeless and depressed."
The attorney said since British citizens can travel throughout the Commonwealth that Wheeler made his way to Canada. Then he made a crossing into the U.S. through the snow at Niagara Falls, N.Y,
He said Wheeler wanted to visit his mother as well as his 14-year-old son, who was born six months after he went to prison. He said the mother of his son was arrested for cooking meth, and the son was taken into a foster home.
The attorney said Wheeler, who is also fluent in Spanish, apparently will not learn if he is to be deported again until he serves his new prison term.