Pubdate: Wed, 31 Jul 2013
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Jeff McDonald

DEA SETTLES LEFT-IN-CELL CASE FOR $4M

Daniel Chong, the self-confessed pot smoker who was caught up in a 
drug sweep last year and nearly died after federal agents 
inadvertently abandoned him in a holding cell for five days without 
food or water, is now a millionaire.

Attorney Eugene Iredale announced Tuesday he reached a $4.1 million 
settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, without even filing a lawsuit.

"What happened to Daniel Chong should never happen to any human being 
on the face of the planet," Iredale said.

The incident made headlines across the globe and sparked a debate 
about drug policies in the United States.

In addition to the cash payment, the lawyer said federal officials 
agreed to adopt new detainee procedures designed to make sure no one 
is left unwittingly in a holding cell again.

Iredale said he also was told the temporary lockups inside the San 
Diego office have been equipped with cameras to allow agents to view 
what happens inside.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which paid the settlement and 
absorbed all other liability from the local police agencies assisting 
in the sweep, declined Tuesday to discuss the events or the 
multimillion-dollar payment.

The harrowing experience for Chong, 25, an engineering major at UC 
San Diego, began on a Friday night in 2012, when he admittedly went 
to some friends' house in University City to celebrate April 20, a 
special date for marijuana users.

Chong didn't know it at the time, but the home had been under 
surveillance by a federal narcotics task force.

Drug agents executed a search warrant early in the morning of April 
21, Among other things, they found 18,000 ecstasy pills, marijuana 
and several weapons in the residence, according to court papers.

The agents also found Chong sleeping on a couch in the front room and 
transported him and six others to the San Diego field office of the 
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for follow-up interviews.

Chong said he answered all of the agents' questions and they agreed 
to send him home without criminal charges. But instead he was 
returned to a temporary holding cell, where he spent the next four 
days without food or water. During the final two days of the ordeal, 
Chong was in complete darkness, he said.

He has said he became delirious, drank his own urine, ate the broken 
shards of his glasses and used the glass to cut the message "sorry 
mom" in his own forearm.

He said he kicked the door and screamed for help but agents never 
came to his assistance. DEA agents admitted later they "accidentally" 
left Chong in the cell and took the unusual step of apologizing 
publicly to the UCSD student.

"When they finally opened the door, I was happy," Chong said Tuesday. 
"I thought maybe they were going to take me to a mental ward. I was screaming."

Chong spent five days at Sharp Memorial Hospital in Kearny Mesa 
before he was able to return home.

Although his lawyer said Chong still suffers from post-traumatic 
stress, Chong indicated he is doing better overall.

"I'm pretty much recovered by now," he said. "My kidneys are doing 
well. I can't assume it was deliberate. I think it was what it 
sounded like - a really horrible accident."

Also, Chong said, he has changed his major - to economics.

According to Iredale, the $4.1 million payout is not taxable. Under 
existing law, he also said, attorney fees are capped at 20 percent, 
so Chong will keep $3.28 million.

Asked what he will do with the money, Chong said, "The given is 
buying a home for my family, but after that I'll put it away."

Findings of an investigation of the case by the Office of the 
Inspector General's Office of the U.S. Department of Justice have not 
been released.

Iredale said federal investigators told him they do not plan to 
pursue criminal charges against any of the agents involved in the 
task force. Iredale singled out for the first time a San Diego Police 
Department officer who was the last person to see Chong before the 
cell was locked.

"We'll be back in a few minutes," Iredale quoted the officer as telling Chong.

Iredale said the federal government is stepping forward "to cover the 
malefactions of the San Diego Police Department."

A San Diego Police Department spokesman said the officer was under 
the command of the DEA at the time of the incident and declined to comment.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom