A Canadian immigrant has died in the custody of ICE while awaiting removal from the US.
Johnny Noviello, 49, died on Monday afternoon while in custody in Miami, Florida. His cause of death is under investigation.
Noviello was undergoing removal proceedings when he was found unresponsive. Medical staff attempted to resuscitate him but he was pronounced dead shortly after.
According to ICE, Noviello entered the US in 1988 and formally became a lawful permanent resident in 1991.
But in 2023, he was convicted of racketeering and drug trafficking – which revoked his legal migrant status. He was meant to leave the country but didn’t, so was arrested in May as part of an ICE round-up.
Johnny Noviello, seen here in a 2023 mugshot, died on Monday afternoon while in custody in Miami, Florida
ICE agents walk down a street during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago
ICE said he was convicted for trafficking Oxycodone, as well the unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate commission of crime.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison in October of 2023. Volusia County corrections data shows he was released in February of last year.
Last month ICE had arrested Noviello at a Florida probation office and issued a notice to appear and charged with removability.
They said this was due to Noviello ‘having been convicted of a violation of (or a conspiracy or attempt to violate) any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country, relating to a controlled substance’.
An ICE statement added: ‘Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.’
They added that officials in Canada had been informed of Noviello’s death.
According to Volusia County Corrections, he had also previously been booked into prison on charges relating to the sale of oxycodone and trafficking the drug in 2018.
This is a breaking news story.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .