‘I’m happy to be home.’ Two Broward brothers stuck in the Dominican Republic are home.
John and Lovinsky Nalus walked through the terminal of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and into the waiting arms of their longtime friends Thursday in a bittersweet homecoming — nearly a year after an eight-day getaway to the Dominican Republic turned into the vacation from hell.
“I’m happy to be home,” said John after wrapping his arms around Randy Kurtz, whom he’s known since he was 11 and has been working hard to bring him and his brothers back home. “It’s been a tough time for my family.”
The brothers — Haitian émigrés who live in Delray Beach — have lost jobs and maybe even a college scholarship. Florida driver’s licenses have been suspended and cars repossessed after they were accused of a crime they said they did not commit.
The brothers allege that they were set up with a four-pound package of marijuana planted in their white Hyundai Tucson rental car on Aug. 2 — just days after arriving in Santo Domingo where they went to reconnect with family including an older brother, who had temporarily moved there from neighboring Haiti because of violence. They were locked up and eventually released, but their passports and cellphones were confiscated and they could not leave the Dominican Republic pending the outcome of their court case.
Both John and Lovinsky are U.S. permanent residents with green cards, while their brother Lonelson, who remains in the Dominican Republic, is a U.S. citizen.
Since their ordeal, Dominican prosecutors had not moved on their case, leaving them in limbo. Three times, scheduled court hearings didn’t happen, they say, after the Dominican prosecutor failed to show up in court.
Earlier this month, after the Miami Herald and McClatchy Washington Bureau began making inquiries, Dominican Attorney General Miriam Germán Brito suddenly moved on the case, and the men were eventually returned their passports and cellphones. The cellphone contained, what the brothers said, is proof of their innocence: video footage showing the drugs being planted.
It was finally turned over to a judge on July 5, but without a court date, the case remains unresolved. Faced with the possibility of spending more time stranded in the Dominican Republic and their lives put on hold, John and Lovinsky opted to come home while Lonelson remains behind waiting for a court date.
For Lonelson, who encouraged his brothers to return without him, Thursday was an “emotional day.”
“They made it [home] safe. I’m happy,” he said via text from the Dominican Republic, shortly after his brothers arrived on a JetBlue flight. “It’s not the end...but I’m excited. I have been crying all day.”
While John and Lovinsky are now home and reunited with their father, Calice Nalus, 57, the case is still pending and they may have to return for a court date. The elder Nalus, who had encouraged his sons to go on vacation said their ordeal has been tough on him.
Vacation from hell
The brothers were four days into their eight-day trip when — along with their oldest brother, Djhonson, 33, and a friend — they were all arrested on drug trafficking charges.
Advocates for the brothers provided the Miami Herald and the McClatchy Washington Bureau with the cellphone video that appears to show a brown package allegedly containing marijuana being placed under their rental car as they protested in English and Haitian Creole.
The brothers say they had guns put to their heads and were asked for money.
The worst day was...the day they put handcuffs on me,” John Nalus said Thursday. “That was the hardest day of my life.”
Problems at home
While stuck in limbo in the Dominican Republic, the Nalus brothers’ lives unraveled.
Lonelson, 25, lost his job. John, 21, was supposed to attend Auburn University in Alabama on a soccer scholarship. He said Thursday he wasn’t sure if he would still be eligible but was willing to try.
“I will put in the work and get it again,” he said.
Lovinsky Nalus, 27, had his car repossessed and missed out on seeing his 4-year-old daughter in Delray Beach. The proud father said Thursday he was looking forward to giving her hugs and kisses.
Djhonson, who had temporarily moved to the Dominican Republic to escape the violence in Haiti, was trying to get permission to travel to the U.S. That has now been put on hold.
U.S. involvement
Even though the case seemed like it falls under a new law — the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act — the U.S. government had been slow to intervene.
The law, which went into effect in December in honor of the former FBI agent from Coral Springs, lists 11 determinations in order for the U.S. to decide if someone is wrongfully being detained. The Biden administration has not yet made the determination.
The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation has taken an interest in the case. The foundation, named after a journalist kidnapped in Syria and later slain, advocates for the release of U.S. citizens, dual nationals and permanent residents kidnapped or unlawfully detained in foreign countries.
In an interview earlier this month with former U.S. Ambassador Robin Bernstein, Bernstein said she wasn’t made aware of the Nalus brothers’ case while she was posted at the embassy in Santo Domingo and only learned about their ordeal upon returning home to Florida.
She said that if they could not get a hearing in the Dominican Republic, they should be allowed to return home.
Being home
After a quick reunion with Kurtz and her son Kai Cheslack, the men headed outside to meet their father.
Both said they were just looking forward to getting back to “normal life,” but were very thankful they had each other.
“They kept me strong,” Lovinsky Nalus said.
As soon as their father pulled up, he got out of the car with a big smile on his face.
After a group hug, the brothers got in the SUV and drove away, hoping the ordeal will soon be a distant memory.
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 9:00 PM.
