Charges stayed against Kentucky man ticketed for violating COVID-19 quarantine rules in Banff

Charges have been stayed against a Kentucky man accused of violating a quarantine order in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains last June.

John Pennington was given a $1,200 ticket on June 25 after staff at a Banff hotel called the RCMP saying they believed a U.S. citizen was violating the Alberta Public Health Act during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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At the time, Americans had been able to use a loophole allowing them to travel through Canada on the way to and from Alaska.

RCMP have said officers received a call the next day about a car with U.S. plates at a gondola parking lot.

They charged him under the Quarantine Act and he was taken into custody.

If the charges had not been stayed, Pennington could have been fined up to $750,000 or six months in jail.

A spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada would not give details as to why the charges were stayed.

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