Pubdate: Sun, 05 Nov 2000
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191
Fax: (619) 293-1440
Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/
Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Author: Karen Dillon, Knight Ridder News Service

WOMAN KEEPS DRUG CASH, COURT RULES

$82,000 Is Found In Car Bought At Federal Auction

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A 77-year-old woman -- not the federal government -- 
can keep $82,000 found in her car's gas tank.

In a case that captured national attention, a federal judge ruled last week 
that Helen Chappell of Kansas City is the rightful owner of the cash, which 
federal agents seized last year after a mechanic found it in her 1995 
Volkswagen Golf.

"It's not often that a 77-year-old woman can beat one of the most powerful 
adversaries in the world," said Paul Katz, the attorney who sued the 
government for Chappell and her son to get the money back.

The car had been part of a drug investigation before Helen and Jeffrey 
Chappell bought it "as is" at a federal government auction last year. But 
it quickly developed a fuel problem, and a mechanic found the cash floating 
in bundles in the tank.

An agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized the money but 
told the Chappells that it should be returned to them. But a short time 
later the Chappells received notice that the federal government planned to 
forfeit the money, which meant it would keep the cash.

U.S. Attorney Stephen L. Hill Jr.'s office argued in the case that the 
federal government owned the cash before it was found, giving it superior 
rights to the money, and also that the money was profits from illegal drug 
trafficking, so it belongs to the government.

In last week's ruling, U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey said the 
government could have kept the money -- if it had found the cash before 
selling the car. And it should have, she said.

The gas gauge was malfunctioning, she said, always reading empty -- but 
still the government did not check the tank.

Even movies filmed decades ago should have tipped off agents, she said.

"As early as the 1970s when 'Easy Rider' was aired, the government was on 
notice that drug dealers use gas tanks to hide their contraband," Laughrey 
wrote.

The Chappells were ecstatic Friday but at the same time realized the 
federal government had 10 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling.

"I kept thinking it would happen and kept praying it would," said Helen 
Chappell, a retired employee of the Missouri Restaurant Association. "Jeff 
kept saying, 'Keep praying, Mom.' "

Chris Whitley, spokesman for Hill, said he had no comment at this point.

"We are currently reviewing what action, if any, would be appropriate by us 
right now," Whitley said.

Jeffrey Chappell, 36, a real estate rehabilitator, said in an interview 
that the judge's decision was more important than just getting the money 
back. He pointed out that many innocent people have had property forfeited.

"I could always use some money, but the more I got into this the more it 
just made me so angry that it was just so unfair," Chappell said. "As I 
read more and more about innocent victims who have lost the money they've 
earned, it drives me nuts."
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