1. State seizure must have an arrest and conviction. Not needed on federal seizure

2. Must have fund set up for state seizure

3. Federal seizure have a minimum cash limit and vehicle limit

U. S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT (DEA)

FEDERAL ASSET FORFEITURE

I. CIVIL ASSET SEIZURES AND FORFEITURES

1. Administrative Seizures - Joint vs Adoptive

2. Judicial Seizures

II. GENERAL EMPHASIS ABOUT SEIZURES

A. Civil not criminal proof of evidence

1. Civil - Preponderance (Tip Scales)

2. Criminal - beyond reasonable doubt

B. Seize and receipt money for investigation

C. Individual does not have to charged, arrested, or found guilty (much less P/C to keep money than convict person)

D. Can seize money with little probable cause or suspicion to investigate further

E. May be narcotic money, gambling money, or just stolen (large sums of money are just suspicious)

F. Basically who carries large sums of cash legitimately ($65,000 case)

III. TYPES OF SEIZURES

A. ADMINISTRATIVE - Handled internally by DEA (3 to 6 month turn around with no challenges)

B. JUDICIAL - Handled by U. S. District Courts by U. S. Attorney

1. Much longer turn around

2. Anyone can file cost bond to force administrative into judicial forfeiture

3. Over $100,000 must go judicial

4. Real property must go judicial

C. YOU ARE PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH VEHICLES AND MONEY

1. VEHICLES - Can be seized for:

a. Transport illegal controlled substances

i. No threshold amounts of seizure

ii. 2 grams coke

iii. 2 Thai sticks

iv. Roach in ashtray (butt)

b. Purchased with drug proceeds

c. Utilized to facilitate drug transaction

2. MONEY

a. Drug proceeds

b. Utilized to purchase drugs

D. THRESHOLD AMOUNTS FOR SEIZURE

1. Money - $1,000.00

2. Vehicle - $2,500.00

3. Airplane - $5,000.00

4. Real Property - $10,000.00

IV. SEIZURE PROCEDURES

A. HAVE PROBABLE CAUSE TO SEIZE

B. NOTIFY SUPERIORS

C. THEY CONTACT DEA (as soon as possible)

1. Possible cooperation - controlled delivery

2. Verify probable cause - further instructions

3. After phone call (it is seizable)

a. Prevents other liens - attorney, IRS, etc. IMPORTANT: Because you are then second in lime for sharing behind lien-holder.

D. NOTIFY PERSONS OF SEIZURE (due process)

E. TURN MONEY OVER TO DEA

1. Cashier's check to U. S. Marshal (interest accounts)

2. Investigative supporting reports

3. File DAG 71 share agreement within 10 days

a. We have 30 days from when we get money to get DAG 71 & 72 to Washington,DC (or Marshal will take it)

F. VEHICLES

1. Notify person of seizure

2. Determine liens (ask them)

3. Verify liens

a. Difference must be $2,500.00 between payoff and wholesale value.

4. High lien - return to lienholder (best) or registered owner

IV. HOW DEA ADOPTIVE SEIZURES BENEFIT YOUR DEPARTMENTS

A. RETURN 90% (we get none) - Law Enforcement Purposes

B. BETTER THAN OHIO LAW

1. Return 85%

2. May lose all

a. Prosecutor and judge unfamiliarity with new law

b. Generally person must be charged and guilty (Federal seizure is a completely separate case)

c. Defense attorney ask and get courts to pay attorney fees

3. For example:

a. $200,000.00 seizure

i. Taken to State - then much later Federal

ii. Jeopardize (due process)

iii. We plea bargained forfeiture

iv. If you just keep for evidence you may have to pay interest if money is just sitting around and lose seizure in the end

C. BETTER THAN IRS

1. They do jeopardy assessment - take money to pay taxes due

2. You never get anything - they have no share agreement power

VII. CASE STUDY

A. DEXTER TRENT (IRS loose ends) - money, car, jewelry, bank account, safe deposit box, property

VIII. DEA SEIZURE JURISDICTIONS ( STATE OF OHIO )

COLUMBUS RESIDENT OFFICE

RAC Richard K. Robins Athens, Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Hocking, Knox, Licking, Madison, Meigs, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Perry, Pickaway, Union, Vinton, Washington

CLEVELAND RESIDENT OFFICE

RAC Charles Olender Belmont, Guernesey, Boble, Monroe, Ottawa, Sandusky, Erie, Seneca, Huron, Wyandot, Marion, Crawford, Richland, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula,Trumbull, Portage, Summit, Medina, Wayne, Holmes, Stark, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Columbiana, Mahoning, Jefferson, Harrison

CINCINNATI RESIDENT OFFICE

RAC Herbert Warren Lawrence, Jackson, Scioto, Pike, Rose, Highland, Adams, Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Greene, Clark, Champion, Logan, Shelby, Miami,Montgomery, Warren, Hamilton, Butler, Preble, Darke

DETROIT DIVISIONAL OFFICE

ASAC Al Johnson G/S John NolanWilliams, Fulton, Lucas, Wood, Defiance, Henry, Paulding, Putnmam, Hancock, Van Wert, Allen, Hardin, Mercer, Auglaize

SHARING FEDERALLY FORFEITED PROPERTY

1. WHAT IS EQUITABLE SHARING?

United States Customs Service laws permit the equitable sharing of property forfeited pursuant to certain federal statutes having forfeiture provisions.

These laws permit the United States Attorney General, or a designee, to share forfeited property with "...any State or local law enforcement agency which participated directly in any of the acts which led to the seizure or forfeiture of the property." (See Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U. S. C. | 1616a as amended October 27, 1986, and The Attorney General's Guidelines on Seized and Forfeited Property dated.

All property, including real property, buildings on real property, and cash can be shared. A state or local agency can request a share of the property forfeited or a share of net proceeds. Net proceeds are the proceeds of the forfeited property after it is sold and all direct costs of the seizure and forfeiture are subtracted.

2. HOW CAN A STATE OR LOCAL AGENCY DIRECTLY PARTICIPATE IN THE SEIZURE OR FORFEITURE OF THE PROPERTY?

Join Forces

A state or local law enforcement agency can take advantage of the equitable sharing provisions in two ways. `First, it can join forces with a United States Department of Justice investigative bureau (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA], or Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] in a federal investigation that permits the forfeiture of property, and share in any property forfeited as a result of its direct participation in the seizure or forfeiture.

Adoption

Second, a state or local law enforcement agency that has seized property, in some instances can request that one of the United States Department of Justice investigative bureaus adopt the seizure and proceed with federal forfeiture. The property must be forfeitable pursuant to one of the federal forfeiture provisions the United States Department of Justice enforces. At the same time the agency can also request an equitable share of that property once it is forfeited.

The FBI and DEA apply three general conditions when considering the acceptance of a seizure for adoption.

First, there must be a valid prosecutorial purpose in requesting the adoption of a seizure for forfeiture. An example of a valid prosecutorial purpose might be that a particular state forfeiture provision requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt and there may not be sufficient facts to meet this standard. However, some federal civil forfeiture provisions require a lower standard of proof, that of preponderance of the evidence and there may be sufficient facts to meet this standard.

Second, the request must be consistent with the available resources of the FBI or DEA to handle the forfeiture action.

Third, the property referred for adoption should not be appraised below these minimum monetary amounts:

Conveyances

* Vehicles $2,500

* Aircraft $5,000

* Vessels $5,000

Nonconveyances

* Real property $10,000

* All other property $1,000

Since the investigative bureaus may differ in their policies for accepting adoptive seizures, a state or local agency should contact the appropriate investigative bureau for further guidance. If you are requesting the FBI to adopt a seizure, please refer to the instructions, check list, and sample referral letter in the Appendix.

3. WHAT FEDERAL STATUTES PERMIT THE FBI TO SHARE PROPERTY?

The 11 federal statutes enforced by the FBI that permit sharing of federally forfeited property are identified on pages 5 and 6 of this pamphlet.

4. HOW CAN AN AGENCY APPLY FOR EQUITABLE SHARING?

Any state or local law enforcement agency that directly participated in a federal seizure or forfeiture may request an equitable share of the forfeited property. The agency should file its requests with the Department of Justice investigative bureau that handled the forfeiture. Before the request is filed, a participating agency should understand the following conditions:

1. The requesting state or local agency must be designated as a law enforcement agency under applicable state law.

2. All transferred or shared property must be used by the participating state or local agency for law enforcement purposes.

3. Transferred property can either be credited directly to the budget of the requesting law enforcement agency or may be "passed through" in whole or in part to an otherwise ineligible entity to be used for a law enforcement purpose. [Example: a qualifying police department may "pass through" a transfer of forfeited assets to a district attorney's office which will put the funds to a law enforcement use.]

4. Prior to the transfer, the requesting agency must pay any mortgages or liens on the property. The agency may also be asked to pay expenses associated with the forfeiture.

5. The Department of Justice has determined that only the investigative activities of law enforcement agencies should be considered in determining sharing percentages.

(a) Therefore, any litigation effort expended by a federal or non-federal agency should not be considered in allocating sharing percentages. However, if the work was performed by investigative personnel assigned to, or detailed to, the state or local prosecutor's office, then this is an investigative activity and will be considered in determining sharing percentages.

6. An assurance that, if requested to do so, a report will be provided as to the actual use of any transferred property or proceeds. A participating agency should file its request using the Application for Transfer of Federally Forfeited Property )DAG-71), dated July 1987, which is available from local or regional offices of the FBI, DEA, or INS. A copy of this form is included in the Appendix of this pamphlet and may be copied and used to request a sharing of forfeited property. The head of the request state or local law enforcement agency or a designee should complete this form. A requester may use one form to request more than one piece of property or request the proceeds from the sale of more than one piece of property, or any combination of the two, as long as the property was taken in a single seizure. If the investigation results in another seizure at a later date, the requesting agency may submit another application.

The application should be submitted within 30 days following the seizure of the property in a joint investigation or, in the case of an adopted seizure, within 30 days after the property is transferred to the federal investigative bureau. Those requests not received within 30 days will not be assured action, and in no case will sharing requests received later than the date of forfeiture or the date of disposition (whichever is later) be honored. Following the forfeiture, the requester will be notified of the sharing decision. A full accounting of any outstanding obligations will be furnished to the requesting agency before it is necessary to make a commitment to accept the property.

Pay close attention to the instructions for item number 2. "Description of Requested Property", 6.a. "Narrative Description", and 6.B. "Specific Factors."

In item number 2. you should show whether you want the forfeited property Or the proceeds following its sale. Item number 6, b. 3. "Percentage participation in the overall investigation" is a request for the percentage of your department's effort to forfeit the property. To make this percentage determination, you must consider the participation of the federal government and any other state or local agency.

GUIDE TO STATUTES ENFORCED BY THE FBI

HAVING FORFEITURE PROVISIONS THAT PERMIT SHARING

Forfeiture Type of

Act/Statatute Citation Forfeiture

1. COMPREHENSIVE DRUG ABUSE 21 USC | 853 Criminal

PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT 21 USC | 881 Civil

OF 1970, Controlled

Substances Act (CSA) 1

2. ORGANIZED CRIME CONTROL 18 USC | 1963 Criminal

ACT OF 1970, Racketeer

Influenced and Corrupt

Organizations (RICO) Statute

3. COPYRIGHTS ACT 17 USC | 509 (a) Civil

18 USC | 2318 (d) Criminal

4. MOTOR VEHICLE 18 USC | 512 Civil

THEFT LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT

OF 1984

5. ORGANIZED CRIME 18 USC | 1955 (D) Civil

CONTROL ACT OF 1970,

Prohibition of

illegal gambling

businesses (IGB) Statute

6. INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN 15 USC | 1177 Civil

COMMERCE - GAMBLING

DEVICES - TRANSPORTATION

PROHIBITED, Transportation

of Gambling Devices Statute

7. CHILD PROTECTION ACT OF 1984, 18 USC | 2253 Criminal

Sexual Exploitation of 18 USC | 2254 Civil

Children 2

8. OMNIBUS CRIME CONTROL 18 USC | 2513 Civil

AND SAFE STREETS ACT OF

1968, Wire Interception and Interception of Oral

Communications (IOC) Statute

9. FOREIGN WARS, WAR MATERIALS 22 USC | 401 Civil

AND NEUTRALITY ACT,

Illegal Exportation of War

Materials Statute

10. MONEY LAUNDERING CONTROL 18 USC | 981 Civil

ACT OF 1986- 3 18 USC | 982 Criminal

11. CRIMES AND CRIMINAL 18 USC | 1762 Civil

PROCEDURE, Prison-Made

Goods Statute

DEA ALSO ENFORCES:

CSA

RICO