RUMFORD – An anonymous tip on Monday led police to an illegal alien who was turned over the next day to the U.S. Immigration Service in Portland for deportation.

Roberto Gonzalez-Leal, 32, of Mexico had been living with a girlfriend from this area when found, Sgt. David Bean said early Wednesday evening.

“We notified a U.S. Immigration officer in Portland, who confirmed that (Gonzalez-Leal) had been deported and failed to appear for a court date, and he was prohibited from coming back into the country,” Bean said, reading from investigating Patrolman Lawrence Winson’s report.

Bean said he didn’t know when the missed court date was or when Gonzalez-Leal had been booted out of the country.

“He was given a date to appear in court, and he failed to appear, and since then, he was not allowed to be in the country. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He just wasn’t supposed to be here. This guy had several aliases. He didn’t try to hide his identity. He seemed to be just hoping he could stay here unnoticed,” Bean said.

Rumford police occasionally pick up illegal aliens and hold them for Border Patrol or immigration agents.

“Apparently, a lot of them come up from Mexico to find work, because they’re so poor down there. Years ago, the (Rumford paper) mill called me down to their train yard where they had an Hispanic male wandering around. Apparently, he’d hopped on the wrong train and didn’t realize it went to a dead end. He said he was looking to go to Bangor to pick blueberries,” Bean said.