Report: DEA admits Calif. man's arrest was mistake

DOWNEY, Calif. - Authorities are releasing a Downey, Calif. man who they admit they accidentally jailed for nearly two weeks after they mistook him for a drug dealer, reports CBS Los Angeles.

Gerber Guzman's wife claims it's the second time he's been locked up at the L.A. County Jail when he hasn't done anything wrong.

After Guzman's most recent arrest, on April 27, Yanira Hernandez tried for more than a week to get him released. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) responded only after CBS Los Angeles got involved a couple days ago, according to the station.

Guzman was arrested after he was pulled over for an expired car registration and, according to his wife, when the officers ran his records, they determined there was a warrant out for this arrest.

But Hernandez says the warrant was issued by mistake and that her husband's identity had been stolen six years ago.

This isn't the first time he was arrested by mistake, she says.

Hernandez says her husband was arrested six years ago and spent 16 days in the L.A. County Jail on drug-related charges before his name was cleared, with the help of U.S. Marshals.

"They told us it wasn't going to happen again, and fast-forward six years later, it happened again," Hernandez told the station.

The DEA confirmed Wednesday that they issued the warrant and acknowledged in a statement that "the man in custody is not the same person for whom the arrest warrant was issued."

"DEA takes all allegations of this nature seriously and is currently using ever resource at our disposal to address the matter," the statement continued.

Authorities told Hernandez her husband would be released Thursday night.