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Criminal – Civil Forfeiture – Seized Currency – Default Judgment

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 29, 2009

A magistrate judge for the Alexandria U.S. District Court recommends default judgment for the government against $8,500 in U.S. Currency, two jet skis, and a dirt bike, based on the property owner’s theft of nearly 9,000 Vicodin pills while a member of the U.S. Navy.

Notice of forfeiture was published on www.forfeiture.gov, an official Internet government forfeiture site, from Dec. 18, 2008 through Jan. 16, 2009. Consistent with the applicable rules, the required notice appeared on an official Internet government forfeiture site for 30 days, and the U.S. filed proof of such publication on Jan. 26, 2009. The property owner contacted the federal prosecutor and stated he did not intend to make a claim on the property. The government’s complaint is verified, states the grounds for subject matter jurisdiction, in rem jurisdiction and venue, describes the property seized and the circumstances surrounding the seizure, and identifies the relevant statutes. In the absence of an assertion of interests in defendant property and defendant currency, this court is not in a position to question the facts supporting the forfeiture of defendant property and defendant currency. The facts as alleged provide a sufficient connection between defendant property and defendant currency, and the illegal drug activity to support the forfeiture.

The magistrate judge recommends granting the government’s motion for default judgment.

U.S. v. $8,500 in U.S. Currency (Davis, J.) No. 1:08cv01103, April 17, 2009; USDC at Alexandria, Va. VLW 009-3-261, 9 pp.

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