A 49-year-old Canadian has died while in custody in a U.S. federal detention centre.
Johnny Noviello, a Canadian citizen, was found unresponsive the afternoon of June 23 while being detained at the Bureau of Prisons Federal Detention Center, according to a news release from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Thursday (June 26). The release adds that medical staff responded immediately with CPR, used an automated external defibrillator shock, and called 911.
The cause of death is still under investigation.
The Consulate of Canada was notified of the death by phone, the release adds.
Noviello was awaiting removal proceedings, which is the legal process by the government to remove a non-citizen from the U.S.
The release says Noviello entered the United States on Jan. 2, 1988 with a legal visa status and became a permanent resident on Oct. 24, 1991.
On Oct. 12, 2023, he was convicted in Volusia County, Fla. for racketeering, trafficking illegal drugs, oxycodone and hydrocodone and an unlawful use of a two-way communication device for crime. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Then on May 15, 2025, Noviello was arrested by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement at the Florida Department of Corrections Probation office and issued a notice to appear. He was charged with removability, having been convicted of a violation of any law or regulation of a state relating to a controlled substance, "other than a single offence involving possession for one's own use of 30 grams or less of marijuana, as a non-immigrant overstay."
Efteen has reached out to the federal government for comment.
