A homeless man jailed for marijuana possession and unable to come up with the $100 cash bail was found dead in his cell at the Valley Street Jail in Manchester Sunday.
Jeffrey Pendleton, 26, was found unconscious in his cell during a routine head count. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
In a press release Monday, jail officials say there were no apparent signs of distress.
An investigation into the cause of death is ongoing.
Pendleton had been in jail since Wednesday, a day after Nashua police arrested him on a misdemeanor count of marijuana possession.
His death comes a year after he settled a pair of high-profile civil rights lawsuits.
Last March, the town of Hudson agreed to pay Pendleton more than $7,000 after he was ticketed for panhandling on public property.
Pendleton also received a $10,000 settlement from the city of Nashua.
He spent more than 30 days in jail after being arrested for walking in a park next to the city’s library.
In a statement, the New Hampshire-ACLU, which represented Pendleton in those cases, says it’s deeply saddened by the death, calling him a defender of constitutional rights.
