U.S. Immigration Post

By: CNN and Washington Post Wed August 28, 2019

Days after Christmas, Leon Haughton flew back to the US from his birthplace in Jamaica with three jars of honey. He had no idea they would cost him his freedom for nearly three months.

The Maryland resident spent 82 days in jail after he was arrested December 29 and accused of bringing a controlled substance into the country. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers who searched Haughton’s bag upon his arrival to Baltimore/Washington International Airport said the honey he was carrying tested positive for drugs.”

They said I was charged with methamphetamine, so I said, ‘what is methamphetamine?’” Haughton told CNN affiliate WJLA.

Charging documents say the 46-year-old man told officers he had purchased the honey on the side of a road in Jamaica, but officers suspected it was liquid meth. Allegedly, each of the three bottles tested positive for methamphetamine in a field test, according to a probable cause statement.

Haughton was taken to a county jail to face multiple charges including importing a controlled substance into the state and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Haughton said he was taken away from his suitcase in handcuffs and ultimately placed in the Anne Arundel County Detention Center on Dec. 30.

A negative lab test weeks later should have cleared him of suspicion, but confusion over Haughton’s green card added to his nightmare, and reportedly kept him locked up for 82 days.

The Washington Post reported Haughton was placed on federal detention because of his arrest at an airport on felony drug charges, and that extended his incarceration. It took another two months for a federal lab to perform a second test and for authorities to drop all charges.

During his second bail review on Jan. 24, Anne Arundel County District Court Judge Laura M. Robinson said, “The problem is, I can’t let him go to ICE, because he would be deported, potentially,” according to a recording obtained by the paper. “Even if I released you, you still wouldn’t necessarily be released. You would go into federal detention.”

He stayed there until March when the charges against him were dropped after a second test in a Georgia lab found no signs of drugs. “Once I came out, all my insurances collapsed, my credit was destroyed,” he told the affiliate.” I lost my job, everything. They just left me a mess.” The father of six told WJLA he lost two jobs while sitting behind bars.

But there was no error made in this case, the prosecutor’s office said.”

A specially trained drug sniffing dog was alerted to the presence of a controlled dangerous substance and a preliminary test done by the police officers further tested positive for a controlled dangerous substance,” the office said.” The confirmatory laboratory test showed (there) was no controlled dangerous substance inside the honey.”

ICE detainer in question

The Anne Arundel County Prosecutor’s Office said Haughton faced a no-bond house arrest on the state charges, but an ICE detainer prevented him from being released earlier.

Terry Morris, Haughton’s attorney, also said he was told there was an ICE detainer.

Haughton also told the affiliate that upon his release he was told ICE had a hold on him.

A spokeswoman with ICE told CNN there was no detainer issued for Haughton and referred questions to US Customs and Border Protection. When contacted by CNN, CBP declined to comment on the record.

He doesn’t want his honey back

Haughton told the affiliate the whole ordeal put a great deal of pressure on his family.”

My kids were stressed out, my mom, everybody,” he said. “They put me through hell.”

And even though Customs has sent him a letter offering the honey back, according to Morris, Haughton doesn’t want it.”

Haughton described his time locked up as “hell” that left him jobless, with his credit destroyed and family stressed out. He is now living in a motel, working on getting his life back. “Even when they let me out, they didn’t reach out to me and say sorry,” Haughton said.

Lawsuits (are) going to be coming soon,” Morris says. “There will be lawsuits imminent.”