Pubdate: Sun, 11 Sep 2005
Source: Morning Sentinel (ME)
Copyright: 2005 Morning Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.onlinesentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1474
Author: Doug Harlow
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

AGENCIES SHARING SPOILS OF DRUG WAR

A 1999 Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle parked in the garage at the 
Fairfield Police Department and more than $22,000 in cash sit waiting to be 
claimed -- not by the former owner, but by police and prosecutors.

The heavy V-8 Magnum SUV and the cash all could end up being public 
property, split among several agencies if local authorities can prove to a 
judge that they were obtained by selling illegal drugs.

In Winthrop, a single sweep of a marijuana-growing operation netted Police 
Chief Joseph Young and his department more than $8,000 in drug forfeiture 
money.

Kennebec County commissioners accepted $1,600 in cash and three firearms 
seized this year in an arrest in Litchfield. A Fayette man agreed to 
forfeit more than $30,000 to the state, half the amount of cash seized from 
his vehicle in a search for drugs by a sheriff's deputy on Feb. 28 in 
Manchester.

The picture is the same across the state, drug money is seized by police 
and "plowed back" into eradication efforts. Call it the spoils of the war 
on drugs; proceeds, in fact, that can ease the burden of local taxation.

"In the Fairfield drug case, we filed a petition to forfeit the money on 
the belief that the cash and the vehicle were derived from the illegal sale 
of drugs," said Evert N. Fowle, district attorney for Somerset and Kennebec 
counties. "After we have terminated the drug dealers' interest in the 
property, we'll need a court order to turn it over to the state, an agency 
or town, approved by the attorney general.

"As to how that money or property is distributed, that is up to the 
attorney general."

Drug forfeiture money can be used by police departments toward the purchase 
of new weapons, a police cruiser or to buffer the overtime police account. 
Prosecutors can use the money to fund various offices around the state, 
supplement pay increases and provide local matches for juvenile prosecution 
efforts.

Forfeiture cases begin in Superior Court, then are sent to the attorney 
general for approval. After the attorney general decides how much each 
agency involved in a drug-forfeiture case gets as a cut, the paperwork is 
submitted back to Superior Court for a final order for distribution.

Fowle said his office handled more than $114,000 in forfeited cash, one 
vehicle and three firearms last fiscal year in Kennebec and Somerset 
counties. He said the money, once divvied up among the agencies that 
participated in the drug raid and subsequent seizure, normally is used to 
combat drug sales or for general law enforcement purposes.

Guns and motor vehicles either are sold, or kept and used by various police 
agencies for drug work, including undercover hours, he said. Confiscated 
drugs either are incinerated or "crushed and flushed" after the case has 
been adjudicated.

"When monies are forfeited to a county, municipality or state agency, it is 
hoped that this money will be plowed back into fighting our serious drug 
problem," Fowle said. "We make no requirement of this, it is up to the 
county commissioners, city council or state agency supervisors to determine 
how the money is spent.

"Our goal is to separate these assets from the drug dealers to the maximum 
extent possible."

Roy McKinney, director of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agreed, saying 
once a judge and the attorney general sign off on confiscated money, it is 
then up to the various agencies to collect their share.

"The drug proceeds are split; X amount will go to a local department, X 
amount will go to the county, some to MDEA, some to the DA's office," he said.

"We're out looking for drug dealers. If we can take some of their blood 
money away from them, then all the better. Most of the drug money forfeited 
in cases where the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency is involved actually goes 
to county, city and town governments in recognition for their help in these 
cases."

The Dodge Durango and the cash sitting as evidence at the Fairfield Police 
Department were confiscated following a raid Aug. 15 on Ohio Hill Road. 
Three people were arrested and police seized cocaine, crack and marijuana.

Fairfield Police Chief John Emery said his department, along with police 
from Waterville, Oakland, and Kennebec and Somerset counties, participated 
in the raid and therefore will be parties to the cut when the proceeds are 
divided, as will Fowle's office.

Fowle said 20 percent of all forfeiture money goes to what is called the 
District Attorney's Budget Line, which is maintained by the attorney 
general. The rest is awarded to the city or town where the search warrant 
originated and is then divided up among the various police agencies.

Emery said the sharing of the proceeds is based on participation in a given 
raid. That would include overtime hours, the number of police officers and 
equipment used.

 From the top line of the forfeited drug money, the department where the 
search warrant originated must also pay its bills, he said.

"Last summer we cut a check to Waterville for $4,000," Emery said. "We'll 
cut checks from the drug forfeiture account to the agencies for whatever 
their share is in the forfeiture."

The controlling agency also must pay for laboratory testing on the drugs.

Assistant Attorney General James Cameron said his office handles all of the 
drug cases in Franklin County. During fiscal 2004-05, $3,263 in cash was 
seized -- and used -- by the Franklin County Sheriff's Department.

He said his office confiscated more than $125,000 last fiscal year 
statewide, most of it in Cumberland, Penobscot and Oxford counties. Cameron 
said his forfeiture figures in Kennebec County include guns and money not 
include in Fowle's account.

Waterville Police Chief John Morris said that by state law, the money goes 
to the city or town council or board of selectmen in each community for 
disbursement later. Proceeds can be used to purchase new equipment, new 
firearms, overtime pay, officer education, narcotic identifying kits -- 
even for so-called "buy" money, marked bills in a drug sting.

"We use a minimal amount of taxpayers money on our battle with drugs," 
Morris said. "It gives me great pleasure to buy drugs in our drug efforts 
with money seized from other drug dealers."

Noting that each municipal or county agency receives varying amounts of 
drug forfeiture money, Emery said his department received nearly $18,000 
during the last fiscal year. Of that money, about $3,000 was left after the 
bills were paid. He said Fairfield's share of the money will go toward a 
new police cruiser.
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