Last week, seven deputy U.S. marshals arrested Paul Aker in Houston, Texas, for a student loan nearly 30 years ago. Fox Houston reported.

The marshals were dressed in full combat gear and carried automatic weapons, Aker said. When they arrived at his door, he was confused.

“I was like, ‘Why are you here?'” he told Fox.

The arrest related to a $1,500 student loan he received in 1987, Aker said. He says he has not received any certified mail or notices regarding outstanding debt in the past 29 years.

For its part, the US Marshals allege that Aker threatened two deputies and said that “he had a gun” when they tried to collect his debt, according to a press release sent to Business Insider. See below for the full statement from the US Marshals.

To be clear, you usually can’t be arrested just for failing to pay a debt in America. United States banned debtors’ prisons in 1833and the United States Supreme Court ruled they were unconstitutional.

But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) noted that lenders can get judgments against you if you don’t pay.

If “you ignore a court order, a judge can issue a warrant for your arrest,” the CFPB added. “You should never ignore a court order.”

In Houston, federally-hired private debt collectors are asking federal courts to issue judgments against student debtors, U.S. Rep. green gene (D-Texas) said on Fox.

“There’s bound to be a better way to collect student loan debt that’s so old,” Green said on Fox.

He noted that even though the original value of the loan was $1,500, interest has accrued on the loan for almost 30 years.

Student loan debt is notoriously difficult to shake off. Unlike consumer debt, student loan debt is extremely unlikely to be forgiven, even in the event of bankruptcy, which means the government will follow you for life until the debt is paid off.

“They can and do – literally – chase debtors to their graves,” Heather Jarvis, a student loan expert who advises people on how to manage their debt, said Vice News last year.

Official U.S. Marshals Service Statement:

“It is the responsibility of US Marshals to serve civil proceedings under the direction of federal courts. These civil procedures include subpoenas to appear in court to deal with delinquent federal loans, including student, agricultural and other loans issued by federal agencies.

Since November 2012, U.S. Marshals had repeatedly attempted to serve a show cause order on Paul Aker to appear in federal court, including searching numerous known addresses. The marshals spoke with Aker by phone and asked him to appear in court, but Aker refused. A federal judge then issued an arrest warrant for Aker for failing to appear for a hearing on December 14, 2012.

On Thursday, February 11, 2016, two Deputy U.S. Marshals made contact with Aker outside his residence. When they attempted to arrest him, Aker resisted arrest and retreated to his house. The situation escalated when Aker verbally told deputies he had a gun. After Aker said he was armed, in order to protect everyone involved, deputies requested further assistance from law enforcement. Additional deputy marshals and local law enforcement officers responded to the scene. After approximately two hours, law enforcement convinced Aker to leave his home peacefully, and he was arrested without further incident.