By ARTESIA DAVIS,Guardian Senior Reporter,artesia@nasguard.com

A Jamaican man who changed the date that he entered the country in his passport has been fined $2,500.

Noel Ellis admitted altering the Bahamian immigration stamp when he appeared before Magistrate Renae McKay.

Ellis was given permission to stay in the country for 10 days when he arrived at the Lynden Pindling Airport on December 5, 2008. But Ellis did not go home within that period. He was arrested by police at the Potters' Cay Dock on December 21. The officers took him to the immigration head office to verify whether he was in the country illegally, the court heard.

His passport showed that he had entered the country on December 15. But officials checked Ellis' immigration card, it was discovered that Ellis had really arrived on December 5.

While looking at a copy of Ellis' passport, Magistrate McKay remarked that the alteration "took some effort."

Asked to explain his actions, Ellis claimed that he made the change because he wanted to be here for the Junkanoo parade.

"The only reason I did it, I just wanted to see what Junkanoo was like," he said. "It was my first time in the country."

If Ellis doesn't pay his fine, he will serve a 12 month prison sentence.