Man out of jail for drinking tea

MIAMI, June 27 (UPI) -- A Florida man has been released from jail after convincing a judge that a Bolivian tea was the reason he failed a cocaine test.

Jerome Klein, 50, spent two months in Broward County Fla., jail when he failed a random drug test under the terms of his bond while awaiting trial on a burglary charge. He convinced a judge Friday that the real culprit was a tea called Mate de Coca, made from the coca plant, that had been given him by his mother, The Miami Herald reported.

''His mom loaded the guy with the tea. It's full of cocaine ... This was an aberration. He's not a junkie,'' said Theodore Mastos, a former Miami-Dade County judge who helped convince Circuit Judge John Murphy III to release Klein.

Klein has never been arrested on drug charges and has no criminal history aside from the burglary allegations, show records backing the judge's decision. But Broward County officials remain skeptical noting that Klein's urine contained 30 times more cocaine concentration than originally reported, the Herald said.