WESTERN BUREAU:

A Virginia, United States, resident found herself in trouble with Jamaican authorities after trying to enter the country with a tampered passport.

Patricia Grant pleaded guilty to tampering with a passport in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

The court heard that there had been a death in Grant's family in Jamaica at the time she attempted to enter the island. She was unable to renew her passport in time, and it was further revealed that it was her 12-year-old daughter who had altered the passport's information.

six months' imprisonment

"I'm very sorry, your honour," Grant told Resident Magistrate Vivienne Harris.

She was sentenced to a maximum of six months' imprisonment, suspended for a period of 12 months.

The court heard that on October 14, Grant arrived in the island from Miami on an American Airlines flight and presented a Jamaican passport to immigration.

Upon examination, it was discovered that the passport's expiry date had been tampered with, changed from 2005 to 2011.

Grant was arrested and charged.