Continued: Parents ask: How could son die while locked up at Hennepin County workhouse?

Jeff Berg was addicted to drugs, so his family kept trying to get him into treatment while he was at the Hennepin County workhouse. When that didn't work, they figured that at the least he was safe.

But in his sixth month at the workhouse, the 32-year-old Crystal man overdosed on a cocktail of drugs.

On Monday, Jeff Berg's parents, Judy and John Berg, filed a federal lawsuit, demanding answers to questions that have haunted them for a year: Why didn't their son receive drug treatment? How did drugs get smuggled in? And why, once Berg was spotted unresponsive in his cell, did minutes tick away before anyone called an ambulance?

The suit says workhouse and other county employees knew that Berg was using illicit drugs in the workhouse because he had been caught with pills, paraphernalia and had tested positive for drug use. He had insurance that would have covered treatment, and his mother also offered to pay, but he was denied treatment by the county, the suit says. The suit also cites internal workhouse reports that show a delay before 911 was called.

Once a lawsuit is filed, the county will not comment, Carol Allis, a county spokeswoman, said Monday.

On Nov. 11, 2007, Berg was found dead in his cell, an orange pill capsule broken open near his body. Cocaine, the painkiller OxyContin and one prescribed drug, trazodone, were in his system, according to an autopsy.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court claims wrongful death through negligence.

"I intend to establish that they violated their own protocol," said Beau McGraw, attorney for the Bergs. "I also intend to establish that they had an obligation, at a minimum, to keep drugs out of the facility. And once they established that they were unable to keep drugs out of the facility, they needed to allow him access to treatment, which he was denied."

In 2006, police raided John Berg's home and arrested Jeff on felony drug possession.

On March 1, 2007, he was sentenced to one year in the workhouse; seven years in prison were stayed. He entered the workhouse on June 1, 2007, and took a drug test. The results came back positive for cocaine, so Berg's work release ended and he was locked up.

Because he had been staying with his mother in Anoka County, Jeff Berg was told that he wasn't eligible for a drug evaluation in Hennepin County. But his driver's license and the complaint listed him as living in Hennepin County.

Judy Berg later lamented that her son could not get a chemical dependency evaluation but was able to get enough dope sneaked inside to kill him. She said it was especially puzzling because he was segregated from other prisoners when he died.

"He's sitting in a drug-infested place," she said. "The drugs are coming in. He's not getting any help whatsoever."

The workhouse has written operating procedures for medical emergencies and overdoses. In suspected overdoses, the officer in charge is to immediately alert medical staff and contact the emergency room. An officer or medical staff member is to support the inmate and monitor vital signs until help arrives or a decision is made to treat or transport the inmate.

Under another rule, a staff member must "sound the alarm" if he or she discovers a medical emergency.

The parents and their lawyer contend those rules weren't followed. The suit says that Berg died around 9:20 p.m. It provides this timeline:

About 9:30 p.m., corrections officer Tony Coleman noticed Berg lying face down in his bunk.

At 10:20 p.m., Coleman noticed Berg in the same position. Coleman called out Berg's name. No response.

At 10:23 p.m., Coleman called another guard and asked whether he had noticed Berg in that same position. The guard replied that he had not. Coleman then called supervisor Traci Scott. She arrived about 10:30 p.m. and instructed Coleman to open the cell door.

Berg was not breathing. Some workers tried to resuscitate him. Nobody called for paramedics until 10:36 p.m. They arrived at 10:40 p.m.

After the death, Tom Merkel, director of Hennepin County Community Corrections, told the Star Tribune that county officials had looked into possible breaches of procedures when Berg died. Employees did nothing wrong, Merkel said during an interview last January. He also said nobody was disciplined.

The Bergs, hoping to learn more, hired McGraw. The suit seeks at least $75,000 in damages.

"I just never thought there would be drugs in the workhouse," John Berg said Monday. "I thought it was a controlled environment where things were watched."

Joy Powell • 952-882-9017