WILLIAMSPORT, PA — A New York City man, Dale Morgan, is continuing his legal fight for compensation after spending nine days in jail due to a mistaken arrest by Pennsylvania state police.
The case began on Jan. 4, 2019, when troopers stopped Horace Henry, a Jamaican national in the U.S. illegally, for speeding on Interstate 80. Henry used a falsified ID containing Morgan’s information. Posing as Morgan, Henry paid fines for his violations.
Henry led a scheme that used stolen identities to create fraudulent Sprint accounts, stealing $1.3 million worth of iPhones across 14 states from January 2018 to July 2019. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2022.
Following a Jan. 24, 2019 incident in Spring Mills, PA, troopers arrested Andrew Herdsman, a co-conspirator, but mistakenly linked Morgan to the crime. Despite surveillance and evidence pointing to Henry, Morgan, a 6-1, 220-pound man, was arrested in Brooklyn and held for nine days before charges were dropped.
Morgan filed multiple lawsuits alleging false arrest and malicious prosecution. While a federal judge in 2024 acknowledged negligent police work, qualified immunity shielded Officer Luke Brown and the county from liability.
Morgan appealed the decision to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied relief on Jan. 12, 2026. On Friday, he requested a full appeals court review, arguing the case raises critical issues regarding qualified immunity and police accountability.
Qualified immunity, established by a 1967 U.S. Supreme Court case, protects government officials from certain lawsuits while allowing some legal leeway for mistakes made in good faith. Morgan’s attorneys contend this case highlights potential limits of that legal protection.
