Canadian Officials, Family Seek Answers After U.S. Resident Dies In ICE Custody

Family members of a Canadian citizen who died awaiting deportation said he had epilepsy and they worked “painstakingly to make sure that he got his meds.”

Canadian officials and family members are demanding answers after a Canadian citizen who received permanent residency in the U.S died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Florida awaiting deportation.

Johnny Noviello, 49, entered the U.S. legally in 1988 and became a lawful permanent resident in Oct 1991, but was convicted in 2023 for racketeering and trafficking oxycodone and hydrocodone, ICE said in a statement addressing his death.

Daniel M. Leising, a lawyer who represented Noviello in the case, told the Miami Herald his former client had served about four months in county jail and was released on probation in February.

Leising said Noviello had no prior charges, and had not violated his probation before he was arrested by ICE in May at the Florida Department of Corrections Probation Office and faced deportation.

“He was just working, nothing out of the ordinary, no violations, nothing else,” Leising told the outlet. “There was nothing on my mind that would’ve created any circumstance where Johnny Noviello would have been a danger to anyone.”