Pubdate: Sun, 15 Feb 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Noelle Phillips
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

S.D. COUPLE FIGHTING FOR CASH SEIZED WHILE VACATIONING IN COLORADO

On Dec. 2, two South Dakota residents cruised through Parker after 
making a wrong turn during a Colorado vacation.

A Parker police officer pulled over 33-year-old Margaret McKinney 
because the temporary tag on her car was in the wrong place. The 
officer smelled marijuana and asked to search the car, McKinney said.

"I thought, 'For what?' " McKinney said. "I had no reason for not 
allowing the search. I wasn't doing anything wrong."

By the time the traffic stop ended, McKinney and her boyfriend, Dion 
"Tony" Anderson, 46, were out more than $25,000 after spending two 
hours being detained on the roadside by Parker police and a federal 
Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

The couple said they were never charged with a crime and were allowed 
to keep marijuana and a pipe. But the money was seized after officers 
found it stuffed in socks in a suitcase.

"I saw her pipe on the hood of her car, and she got to keep it while 
my money went in the other direction," Anderson said. "That burned my 
tail feathers."

Now, Anderson, who said he received the money through a lawsuit 
settlement, must prove he obtained the money through legal means to 
get it back from the government.

Parker police and the DEA declined to speak about the case, but legal 
experts said it seems Anderson's money was taken through a 
controversial government program that was ended last month by U.S. 
Attorney General Eric Holder.

"It literally sounds like highway robbery," said Mark Silverstein, 
legal director for the ACLU-Colorado.

Renewed spotlight on law

Laws that allow police to seize a person's cash or car or other 
assets have been in the spotlight in recent months.

In Colorado, where laws regarding asset forfeiture already are tight, 
a bill has been filed with the intent of making it even more 
difficult. Police and prosecutors are negotiating with the bill's 
sponsor, Sen. Laura Woods, R-Arvada. The bill is supported by defense 
attorneys.

Critics of asset forfeiture have argued that police abuse the 
procedure to fatten their budgets.

Between Oct. 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2014, federal agents in Colorado 
seized $13.5 million, according to statistics from the U.S. 
Attorney's Office in Colorado. About $2.8 million of that filtered 
down to local law enforcement agencies.

Law enforcement agencies say asset forfeiture is a crucial weapon in 
their battle against drug cartels and human traffickers as they try 
to destroy their operations by drying up finances.

In October 2013, for example, federal agents pulled over Denver 
attorney David Furtado and seized $450,000 from the trunk of his car 
while investigating ties between the medical marijuana industry and 
Colombian drug cartels. That case is pending in federal courts.

In response to criticism about government seizing assets, Holder 
issued a Jan. 16 memo that bars federal agencies from 
administratively adopting local asset forfeiture cases. The policy, 
developed in the early days of the 1980s drug war, was criticized often.

Under the old policy, if a local police officer got permission to 
search a car during a traffic stop and found a large amount of cash, 
he could call a federal agent - often the DEA - for assistance. The 
federal agent could adopt the case through administrative action.

Then, the person who had the money would have to challenge the 
seizure and prove that the money was obtained through legal means - 
rather than forcing the government to prove it was obtained illegally.

Defense attorneys, the ACLU and others argue that the policy's 
concept was directly opposite of the innocent-until-proven-guilty 
principle of the American criminal justice system.

All of this was the focus of a Washington Post series last fall.

Focus on bigger cases

If the feds now want to take over a local case, they would have to 
appear before a judge and ask for a warrant, said Jeffrey Dorschner, 
a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver.

Filing legal papers for warrants and appearing before a judge take 
time and effort. As a result, legal experts said it is likely federal 
agents would go after only the largest cases to make the effort worthwhile.

"The U.S. Attorney's Office will focus on the bigger cases that we 
care the most about," Dorschner said.

Federal agents still can seize cash and other assets when a case 
originates with their agency or when working on a joint investigation 
with state or local police.

In Colorado, that's how most asset forfeitures happen, Dorschner said.

Multi-jurisdictional police task forces are widespread in the Denver 
area, including in Parker, where McKinney and Anderson were stopped.

In Parker, two officers are assigned to a DEA task force, said police 
Capt. Jim Tsurapas, who oversees investigations and specialized units.

Tsurapas said he could not talk about the Dec. 2 traffic stop 
involving Anderson and McKinney.

But it's not unusual for the department's patrol and traffic officers 
to call the DEA task force members if they suspect drug crimes have 
been committed, he said. Under those circumstances, any property 
seizures would be passed to the DEA.

Since the traffic stop in Parker, Anderson said he has struggled.

He admits making poor decisions in the past. Anderson and McKinney 
have minor criminal records in South Dakota, including each being 
charged in November with marijuana possession.

But no criminal charges have been filed against them in the November 
traffic stop in Parker.

Anderson described himself as "sub-literate" and said he has never 
held a bank account.

Anderson's lawyer in the personal injury case, Andy Damgaard of the 
Janklow Law Firm in Sioux Falls, S.D., confirmed that Anderson had 
received an amount in excess of $28,000 in a settlement.

Damgaard also recalled writing a letter on Anderson's behalf so a 
bank would cash his settlement check.

"To each his own," Damgaard said.

Anderson told The Denver Post that he had carried the cash on 
vacation because he was worried about it getting stolen while he was 
away from home.

"I figured the place could get burned down or burglarized ," Anderson 
said. "I felt safer with it on my person."

Without the money, he hasn't been able to make his car payment. And 
he lost his apartment because he couldn't pay the rent.

All of it has led to depression.

"I really don't know what to say," he said while crying. "It really 
has affected my psyche.

"I don't have the ability to provide for myself right now with the 
kind of work I do."

[sidebar]

Asset forfeiture and distribution in Colorado

The amount collected each fiscal year:

2010 - $4,349,601.59

2011 - $4,665,068.44

2012 - $6,584,111.65

2013 - $2,887,472.93

2014 - $13,534,730.32

The amount distributed each fiscal year to law enforcement agencies:

2010 - $2,983,528.87

2011 - $ 204,235.21

2012 - $2,859,505.93

2013 - $1,336,976.18

2014 - $2,816,068.43

Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Colorado
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom