Authorities are investigating the death of a Canadian citizen who died Monday in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency said in a statement.
The man, Johnny Noviello, 49, was found unresponsive Monday at about 1 p.m. at the Bureau of Prisons Federal Detention Center in Miami, according to the statement, which was released Wednesday. Medical staff administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator shock and called 911, ICE said. Noviello was pronounced dead by the Miami Fire Rescue Department at 1:36 p.m., the agency said.
ICE said it had notified the Canadian consulate of Noviello’s death. The Canadian consulate did not immediately return phone and email requests for comment Thursday.
Noviello entered the United States in 1988 with a legal visa status and became a lawful permanent resident in 1991, the agency said. In October 2023, he was convicted of charges of racketeering and drug trafficking in Volusia County, Florida, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Court records show that Noviello and his father were arrested and charged in 2017 with selling drugs, including hydrocodone and oxycodone, at an auto sales shop in Daytona Beach, Florida.
ICE agents arrested Noviello on May 15 at the Florida Department of Corrections probation office, and he was being detained pending removal proceedings because he had violated U.S. drug laws, according to the agency.
His death came as ICE agents have made sweeping arrests across the United States as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. Trump has issued several executive orders this year aimed at deporting millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, and ICE arrests in courts, restaurants, hotels and factories have prompted widespread protests.
Noviello is the 10th person to die in ICE custody this year and the fourth person to die in custody in Florida, according to the agency’s website.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2025 The New York Times
