Pubdate: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA) Copyright: 2002 Athens Newspapers Inc Contact: http://www.onlineathens.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535 Author: Joan Stroer A-C POLICE SEIZE HOME IN DRUG RAID Police have long had the right under state and federal law to seize property if they can show it's linked to the illegal drug trade. Athens-Clarke police have rarely moved to commandeer a house. Thursday, they seized a west Athens house owned by an 82-year-old widow neighbors call ''Ma,'' claiming she was knowingly letting her son use the property as a staging site for drug sales. Police predicted more home forfeitures, as they look for fresh ways to end open drug dealing that still troubles some Athens neighborhoods. ''This community is why we're here today -- it's part of our problem-solving approach to policing the community,'' said Mike Hunsinger of the Athens-Clarke Police Drug and Vice Squad. ''I think we're going to see more of it.'' Fannie Gresham's attorney, Jim Smith, likened the police action to the widespread illegal theft of African-American real estate that tarnishes America's past. ''What they're doing is taking property from black folks,'' he said. ''They don't attack white folks.'' Under the watchful eyes of neighbors, officers entered the tiny Julius Drive home of Gresham and changed the locks. Police on Thursday also arrested Gresham's son, Tommie ''Top Dollar'' Gresham, 50, on a cocaine possession charge after he allegedly dropped several rocks of crack cocaine and fled the scene, returning later while police were still there. His mother was at the hospital visiting a sick relative during the police operation, according to her attorney, who accused police of confiscating the home of an innocent old woman. Neighbors described her as a kindly lady who walked to a nearby church every Sunday for services. ''Right here is a good example of the state taking property'' without evidence, Smith said, videotaping the operation from the street. ''There's not any drugs in this house. They have never seized any drugs in this house. This lady is not accused of a single thing.'' The police complaint alleged the senior Gresham facilitated her son's alleged operation by allowing the house to become a hub of drug activity. Some 29 incidents of drug activity have been noted at the address there since 1992, records show. Police were armed with a court order issued by Superior Court Judge Stephen Boswell, who heard evidence in December of alleged drug activity at the property. Police say drug dealers were caught numerous times by police fetching drugs from the house for street-side sales, and running after cars to sell drugs to motorists. Boswell gave Gresham 14 days to move her belongings. A hearing on the seizure is scheduled for February in Clarke Superior Court. Boswell signed the order as a visiting judge after the Western Judicial Circuit's three Superior Court judges recused themselves in the case. Seized by the state government was a Jim Walter home that Gresham and her husband erected in the 1950s, paying for it partly with money from a job she held at a local poultry plant. Her husband Tom died in June. The sudden lockdown at the address surprised at least one visitor, dropping off a package for Gresham, who she described as a lovely person and a good customer. The visitor found only an empty locked house. ''All I know is what I bring them,'' Mary Brake said.''It's prescription drugs.'' - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart