US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported a former NFL player Daniel Adongo last month, alleging an overstayed visa, multiple offenses, and prison time.
Daniel Adongo, 37, a linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts for two seasons, overstayed his visa in 2016, the year after his NFL career ended, according to US authorities.
In a statement issued on Saturday, ICE referred to him as a “dangerous individual” and stated that he was ordered to leave the United States on March 23 and was removed on June 20.
Adongo, a rugby player at the time, made headlines in 2013 when he switched to American football in the US. “Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes,” ICE Chicago assistant field office director Douglas Thompson said. “This dangerous individual was clearly a threat to the community, which is now safer since he’s been removed.”
Adongo has not responded to the claims against him, and it is unclear where he was deported to.
According to the ICE statement, the former athlete has been arrested “multiple times” over the last ten years “for crimes including felony intimidation, battery, and disorderly conduct”.
According to the Indianapolis Star, he also spent time in a psychiatric hospital after retiring from the NFL.
According to his mother and lawyers, he suffered from mental illness and injury, possibly as a result of his athletic career.
After being charged with intimidation and criminal mischief in 2017, the newspaper reported that a judge ordered a psychiatric assessment of Adongo to see whether he was capable of standing trial; he was found incompetent and was admitted to a psychiatric facility.
The trial was rescheduled several times, including when the defendant failed another psychiatric evaluation.
Then, in 2020, he was convicted of “criminal mischief with damage” and sentenced to 364 days in prison, ICE stated.
The government also stated that his most recent accusations were under the Laken Riley Act, which mandates that unauthorized immigrants caught for theft or violent crimes be kept in prison until trial.
US President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on January 29, 2025, shortly after the start of his second term.
The law is named after Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was slain by a Venezuelan man a year ago.
ICE has detained over 40 Kenyans, according to the US Department of Homeland Security website.