Over the past few months, I kept encountering people in my Pennsylvania prison who claimed to have received a false-positive urine test, leading to violations and revoked privileges. In some cases, people about to get out of prison were denied parole. 

I decided to investigate.

I reached out to some contacts and received an email from Claudia Jones of Let’s Get Free, a well-respected advocate for prison reform and reentry. 

In his message, he said he had been “asked to assist with all of these false positive urines throughout the [department of corrections].” He asked me to connect him with people who had experienced this issue.

I sent him the name and prison ID number of an impacted individual. But that message was removed from my tablet, along with another reply I sent. 

I reached out to another outside advocate, Amy Sortino, founder and president of Reentry Ready, and received the following message: “We have been hearing about the same issues from people all over the state, with some of the most egregious examples showing up at the women’s prisons. This is a serious problem!”

It wasn’t long before the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections also realized it had a problem on its hands. In a message I received via Reentry Ready, state Rep. Emily Kinkead said the department “will be reviewing all individuals with positive test results from October and November and removing any misconducts where appropriate.” 

In January, a department spokesperson also told PennLive that the drug tests administered during those months were overly sensitive and would be reviewed. 

Finally, I sought out Cornell Gambrell, a gentleman at my prison who was about to go home — until he received a false positive. Ultimately, he was cleared of wrongdoing, but the saga left a negative mark. Below is an edited and condensed version of my interview with Gambrell, who has since made parole. The conversation was conducted before he was released. 

Q: It was shocking to learn that you, someone I know to have been upstanding within these confines, experienced this. 

Cornell: This was something neither my family nor I ever expected, after having done so much [to better myself while in prison] and, especially, being this close to going home.

Q: Can you give me a little history of who you are?

Cornell: I was a product of military parents. My father was an Army E9 and mother was an Army O9, who raised me in north Philadelphia. I graduated from Simon Gratz High School. I retired from the military in 2019 as a colonel where I worked flying F-15 fighter jets.

I raised my family well in a traditional sense, and my children followed in the family’s military tradition; one of my children is active duty Air Force, a major; I pride myself on being a very active and present parent. After the military I worked for the city of Philadelphia from 1987 to 2018, operating trolleys before moving up into the position of director of rail transportation for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

Q: Tell me about the false positive you received. 

Cornell: Well, I was notified on Oct. 10, 2024, that I made parole. My exit date was Jan. 13, 2025. I went for my exit urinalysis on Dec. 12, and on Jan. 1, I was informed that the test came up positive of 1 mg/ml of cannabinoid; a DC-141 misconduct was issued.

Anyway, I was devastated to be accused of this. I had done all the right things, or had presumed as much, and here comes this positive result my family and I know to be untrue. 

Q: How did your family take it?

Cornell: [tears well up] Oh my wife, my dear wife, was so hurt. I could hear it in her voice. One call we’re making plans to meet and be done with this, then all of a sudden a phone call in which I have to tell her I won’t be coming home. No one can grasp … the impact on the family of such a thing, no matter how strong they have been beside you through this ordeal of incarceration.

Had it not been for them knowing how unequivocally I despise drugs, this could have raised such major suspicions in their minds. 

I wanted to be reunited with my family, but instead I had to cancel my flight and other costly arrangements made to get home quicker. Then I’m thinking: “I have to deal with the accusations here, my character being questioned.” Yeah, it hurt.

Q: What was your appeal hearing like?

Cornell: The hearing was like a drive-by colonoscopy: quick and painful. I was asked,  “How do you plead?” “Not guilty,” I said. “According to the test results you are guilty.” So matter-of-fact; unemotional.

The hearing examiner issued my punishment: “30 days of cell restriction, with the right to appeal within 15 days. Parole may be affected.”

Q: Where do you stand now? 

Cornell: On Jan. 10, I received the results of my appeal from the program review committee, which exonerated me. I want to say I won, and yet to be perched on such an edge of uncertainty when you’ve been compliant and straightforward in all matters — it didn’t feel like a win. 

My family and I will be on eggshells until I touch base at home.