The cause of death for a 49-year-old Canadian citizen detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami is under investigation, the federal agency revealed Thursday.
Johnny Noviello was pronounced dead by the Miami Fire Rescue Department at 1:36 p.m. on Monday, 42 minutes after staff at the Bureau of Prisons Federal Detention Center found him unresponsive, according to the ICE press release.
"Medical staff responded immediately and began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillator shock and called 911," the release states. Enforcement and Removal Operations has since notified the Department of Homeland Security and "provided telephone notification of the death to the consulate of Canada."
The cause of death is still under investigation. ICE didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Noviello, who became a lawful permanent resident in 1991, was convicted in Volusia County for racketeering and drug trafficking in Oct. 2023 and sentenced to 12 months in prison. He had trafficked in Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, and other illicit substances, and unlawfully used a two-way communication device to facilitate the crime.
On May 15 of this year, ICE arrested him at the Florida Department of Corrections Probate office to deport him for the controlled substance violation.
According to a 2017 article by the Daytona News Journal, Noviello owned a Daytona Beach used car lot with his father. Both were served with federal arrest warrants in November of that year for trafficking and selling painkillers over a months-long period in 2015.
Then-72-year-old Angelo Noviello was held on a $72 million bond for selling the drugs, while his then-42-year-old son was on a $1 million bond for trafficking them.
Noviello entered the United States with legal visa status on Jan. 2, 1988, and became a lawful permanent resident on Oct. 24, 1991.
