>Sender: >To: >X-Original-Message-ID: <03bc01bf26ff$e811a650$9acf69cf@pacbell.net> >From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: Forfeitureo Bizarro >Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 12:05:13 -0800 >X-Mozilla-Status: 9001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > > >Although this bizarre tale raises a lot of questions, mine is, "Why the hell >didn't the mechanic just keep the money and keep his mouth shut?" > >Enjoy, > >Peter > > >Pubdate: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 >Source: Kansas City Star (MO) >Copyright: 1999 The Kansas City Star >Contact: letters@kcstar.com >Address: 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108 >Feedback: http://www.kansascity.com/Discussion/ >Website: http://www.kcstar.com/ >Author: Karen Dillon, The Kansas City Star, kdillon@kcstar.com >Note: Kansas City Star Special Project, >http://kcstar.com/projects/drugforfeit/index.html > >GOVERNMENT'S CAR SALE LEADS TO DISPUTE OVER CASH > >At $5,400, the 1995 shiny blue Volkswagen Golf seemed to be a steal, or so >thought Helen Chappell and her son when they bought it this spring from the >federal government. > >But two months later the engine quit. Suspecting a fuel problem, a mechanic >at a Kansas City garage checked the gas tank -- where he found $82,000 in >more than a dozen plastic bundles. > >The Chappells thought they had won the lottery. > >The federal government did not. > >U.S. Attorney Stephen Hill has filed a complaint in federal court, saying >the money should go to the U.S. Department of Justice because the car and >cash may have been used in illegal drug activity three years ago. > >Jeffrey Chappell, Helen Chappell's son, maintains they should get the money >because they bought the car "as is." > >"You always read about stuff the government does, but I was in disbelief >that they would do this," said Jeffrey Chappell, of Kansas City. "The >forfeiture laws are there for trying to get the money out of the hands of >drug dealers and stuff like that. They know darn good and well ... the >money is not in the hands of drug dealers." > >The Chappells have filed a lawsuit and are contesting the forfeiture, but >that has required them to pay a $5,000 bond. > >In February 1996 the Volkswagen had been stopped by the Missouri Highway >Patrol for speeding. During a search, troopers found cash in baggies -- >$24,000. The patrol handed over that money and the car to the Drug >Enforcement Administration, a practice that has concerned legislators this >year. > >Missouri law prohibits police agencies from handing off drug money they >seize. Instead, they must send the money through a state court, where a >judge usually sends it to an education fund. > >The Kansas City Star reported earlier this year that police in Missouri >often gave the cash or property to the federal government, which keeps a >portion and sends the rest, usually 80 percent, back to police. > >David Hansen, attorney for the patrol, said the troopers didn't think at >that time the money could be handled under state law, although the recent >controversy has made the patrol realize that they can. > >A trooper had stopped the car, carrying two Mexicans, on Interstate 44 near >Springfield. The car and its passengers were taken to the patrol's garage, >where the $24,000 was found in the battery compartment. That was when the >patrol turned over custody of the car and the money to the DEA. > >The Mexicans explained they had driven the car from Mexico. One of the men >said he knew the $24,000 was from the sale of illegal drugs, according to >court records. He would not say who hired him to make the trip. > >A federal drug agent told the men they were not under arrest. The men >called a taxi and left after receiving a receipt for the money and the car. >They were never charged with a crime, which is common in these types of >cases, law enforcement officials say. > >The government kept the Volkswagen, declaring it abandoned two years later. >The General Services Administration took bids, and Helen Chappell got an >almost new car, which had been driven only 3,600 miles, for a little over >$5,000. > >Two months later, when the car broke down, Jeffrey Chappell had it towed to >Waldo Imports. When the mechanic found the money, the garage called the DEA. > >Chappell, a real estate rehabber, was house-sitting when he got the message >to call the mechanic, who put DEA Special Agent Lawrence Melton on the >phone. When Chappell realized he was talking to a drug agent, it >immediately flashed in his mind that he could be in trouble. > >"The first thing out of my mouth was, 'Hey, I just bought that car from you >guys,' " Chappell said. > >But Melton told him about the money, Chappell said, and explained that the >cash should be his free and clear. > >" 'As the legal owner of that car, that'll be your money,' " Chappell said >Melton told him. " 'You bought the car as is.' He said, 'That's our >mistake, and we missed it.' " > >Melton refused to comment last week. Chris Whitley, Hill's spokesman, said >law enforcement agents did not have the authority to give that type of >advice. "Whether he is right or wrong ... the courts will have to take care >of those matters," Whitley said. > >Jeffrey Chappell said he hurried to the garage, but the DEA agent was >already gone. "They had already snatched the money by the time I got >there," he said. > >The Chappells said the DEA advised them that all they had to do was fill >out some paperwork and they could have the money. Helen Chappell, who is >retired after 20-plus years at the Missouri Restaurant Association, said >she began planning a couple of vacations. > >Now they are fighting the U.S. Department of Justice and have hired Kansas >City lawyer Paul Katz. > >Legal disputes over forfeitures are known to take several months or longer. > >Federal law requires that the Chappells prove that they are the owners of >the money or that the money "was not derived from any kind of criminal >activity, or both," Whitley said. Then it is up to the judge to decide. > >That requirement upsets Jeffrey Chappell. > >"This country was not founded on the government being able to seize your >property and requiring you to prove that you are innocent," Chappell said. > >Besides, said Katz, "three government agencies failed in their duties to >inspect this car." > >The federal complaint argues that the cash may have been used in illegal >drug activity, but Whitley would not comment further on the government's >right to the money, saying he didn't want the case played out in the media. > >Speaking of the $24,000, no one seems to know where it went. Since the >Highway Patrol made the traffic stop, it asked the DEA to return 80 >percent, according to a police report. But patrol officials say they never >got any back. > >Federal drug officials aren't much help. > >Melton swore in an affidavit that the money was handled as a forfeiture. >George Spaulding, assistant special agent in charge of the area's Drug >Enforcement Administration office, said he thought the money was part of >another process that wouldn't return any of it to the Highway Patrol. >Contacted early last week, DEA officials in Washington have been unable to >explain where the money went. > >Besides the mystery surrounding the $24,000, another question remains. If >Hill's office is successful in their forfeiture of the $82,000, will the >Highway Patrol, which initiated the case, get its share? > >To reach Karen Dillon, projects reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4430 >or send e-mail to kdillon@kcstar.com > > > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: