DEA to Pay $4.1 Million to Man Forgotten in Cell

The DEA has agreed to pay $4.1 million to San Diego college student Daniel Chong after rounding him up in a drug sweep last year and then forgetting him in a holding cell for five days without food or water.

UC San Diego student Daniel Chong

Chong's not-so-excellent adventure began on the night of April 20, 2012, when the engineering student went to a friend's house in University City to celebrate the pot-smokers' holiday. He was unaware that the house had been under surveillance by a federal drug task force, and had slept over when DEA agents raided the place early the next morning.

Agents found 18,000 ecstasy tablets, as well as marijuana and several weapons in the home. They also found Chong sleeping on the living room couch. DEA agents transported Chong and six other people in the house to the DEA's San Diego office for follow-up questioning.

After questioning, DEA agents decided against charging him and said they would release him. But instead, he was returned to a temporary holding cell -- and forgotten. Chong spent the next four days in the cell without food or water. He said he resorted to drinking his own urine, became delirious, and broke his glasses, using shards from them to cut the message "Sorry, mom" in his own forearm.

Chong said that despite repeatedly pounding on the cell door and calling for help, no DEA personnel came to his assistance. The DEA later admitted that its agents "accidentally" left Chong in the cell and publicly apologized for the oversight.

Neither DEA headquarters in suburban Washington nor the San Diego office has commented on the settlement. The incident was investigated by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General, but the results of that investigation have not been released.