The law caught up with a Brazilian mechanic who apparently lied in a May 27, 2005 Bermuda Sun story that he had received permission to find new work after losing his job.

Yesterday in Magistrates? Court he was set down for deportation.

Looking stressed and confused, Jorge Costa pleaded with Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner for more time, saying: ?I can?t just leave like this. Please!?

Costa?s permission to seek employment expired on May 10 this year and the Department of Immigration eventually caught up with him on Monday in Devonshire. He admitted yesterday to being here unlawfully between May 10 and August 8 but denied a charge being employed illegally.

Immigration inspectors found him with another man working on a cycle, the court heard. Costa was holding a screwdriver.

Mr. Warner released Costa, 45, on bail of $1,000 with the condition that the same person signing as surety would have to accommodate him until August 23 when he returns to court and ultimately is escorted off the Island.

Costa arrived in Bermuda in 1988 and worked as a motorcycle mechanic with Oleander Cycles ? mainly in St. George?s, where he worked his way up to store manager.

Costa told the Bermuda Sun the running aground of his 65-foot boat, during Hurricane Fabian on September 5, 2003 and the botched salvage operation which followed five days later, ruined him financially and led to a depression which ultimately cost him his job.

He bought the boat in 2000 for $25,000 and spent $100,000 repairing it during his spare time.

Costa had to pay Marine and Ports up to $30,000 to remove the from rocks near Town Cut. He was living with friends as he tried to raise the money to pay for this. He blamed Marine and Ports for the sinking because they ?weren?t doing it right?.

Costa also claimed he was selling a piece of land he owned in Brazil to raise the money and that he had permission from Immigration to look for work.

Yesterday, Crown counsel Oonagh Vaucrosson told the court that Costa?s ?fixed? address is a sailboat he claims to have dry-docked in St. George?s.

Immigration inspectors asked for proof of a valid work permit and he produced some papers from under the seat of his motorcycle and said he had received permission to stay. He was promptly arrested.

Costa told the court that he had put all his money into the boat and when it sank he had nothing left and had since accumulated some debt in Bermuda.

Costa claimed to be helping a friend and said he was not being paid to do so.

?He was assembling an engine and I was watching,? he said, adding that he was ?training? the friend for free.

When asked why he had not gone to Immigration to find out about his work permit, Costa told Mr. Warner that he had picked up the necessary paperwork from his sailboat in St. George?s that morning and was on his way to Hamilton to drop them off.

?That?s why I had the paperwork under my bike seat,? he said.

In response, Mr. Warner simply shook his head and sighed.

Ms Vaucrosson told the court that Oleander Cycles had offered to pay for Costa?s repatriation.

It was at this point in the court proceedings that Costa asked Mr. Warner for time to sell things and settle his debts in Bermuda before leaving.

Mr. Warner adjourned the case until August 23 and told Costa to make sure to have all his affairs settled and be prepared to leave Bermuda by August 23. Costa was escorted from court by an Immigration officer.