Pubdate: Wed, 06 May 2015 Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Copyright: 2015 The Baltimore Sun Company Contact: http://www.baltimoresun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37 Author: Timothy M. Phelps, Tribune Washington Bureau OFFICIALS DEMAND MORE ACCOUNTABILITY AT DEA Light Punishment for Negligent Agents Spurs Call for Reform WASHINGTON - Obama administration officials and lawmakers are calling for greater accountability and tougher disciplinary procedures at the Drug Enforcement Administration after the agency only lightly punished agents who nearly killed a 23-yearold San Diego man by forgetting him in a holding cell for five days with no food or water. Daniel Chong, a University of California at San Diego student, was detained in 2012 for what he was told would be five minutes after he was swept up in a drug bust at a friend's house, where he had been smoking marijuana. Agents forgot about him, forcing Chong to drink his own urine to stave off dehydration until he was discovered delirious and suffering from severe breathing problems, according to a Justice Department Office of Inspector General report last summer. After an internal DEA review concluded in March, the six DEA agents involved received only reprimands and short suspensions, spurring the Justice Department to demand reforms to prevent such mistakes from reoccurring. In an April 28 letter to members of Congress obtained by Tribune Newspapers, the Justice Department said what happened to Chong was "unacceptable" and that "the DEA's failure to impose significant discipline on these employees further demonstrates the need for a systemic review of DEA's disciplinary process." The DEA is already under fire for its handling of a scandal in which agents admitted to hiring prostitutes in Colombia. Complaints over her failure to adequately punish the agents involved in the Colombia case led to the early retirement last month of DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. The incident over Chong is likely to weigh in the search for her replacement. Administration officials said they would search for a top administer who could beef up the DEA's internal disciplinary procedures and create a culture that will hold agents more accountable for their actions. At the same time, several members of Congress - also concerned over the handling of the Chong case - have indicated they will move to give the next administrator more authority over civil service disciplinary rules, which agency officials blamed for the light punishment in both cases. After he was found, Chong was hospitalized for four days. He and his lawyers said at a news conference last summer that he underwent intensive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. The department paid Chong a $4.1 million settlement. Last month, the DEA's Board of Professional Conduct issued four reprimands to DEA agents involved in the incident and a five-day suspension without pay to another. The supervisor in charge at the time was given a seven-day suspension. Gene Iredale, a San Diego lawyer who represents Chong, said the punishments were insufficient. Rusty Payne, a DEA spokesman, said a Department of Justice Inspector General's investigation into the incident was referred to DEA's Board of Professional Conduct, which recommended the punishments to a top independent official. Under current civil service regulations, the DEA administrator is not permitted to intervene in disciplinary matters. But Payne said that the institutional problems that led to Chong being forgotten in his cell have already been fixed. "It was a terrible tragic mistake and one we have learned from and we are going to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom