Pubdate: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Copyright: 2003 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265 Author: David Doege Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) GRASS PUT PARENTS IN CLOVER, U.S. SAYS Probe Focuses on Cars, Home of Dealer's Folks Christopher Vnuk pleaded guilty to trafficking in expensive, high quality marijuana from the City of Pewaukee to Milwaukee, where he unwittingly walked into the middle of a narcotics investigation. But legal wrangling over his marijuana enterprise is far from over, and his parents are going to be alongside him fighting allegations that they knew what he was up to and laundered his drug money. The stakes are high: the family's $362,000 home; a 2001 Mazda Protege; a 2002 Mercedes-Benz E-55; two classic muscle cars; and cash totaling nearly $35,000 that was taken from their home and frozen in their bank accounts. Federal authorities believe the parents purchased the house and cars with money their son earned selling the marijuana. The cars, home and cash have been targeted by federal prosecutors as alleged fruits of illegal drug trafficking, and are listed in a civil forfeiture action seeking to confiscate them. Moreover, a state prosecutor who charged Vnuk in Waukesha County Circuit Court says he is considering charging his parents. Parents were arrested Stephen and Sharon Vnuk were arrested three days after their son because police hauled 21 pounds of marijuana and an array of packaging paraphernalia out of the home the three shared, according to Circuit Court records. Although seven months have passed since then, Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Brad Schimel said that he's in a better position now to weigh charging the parents because of a continuing investigation by police and the Internal Revenue Service. "One of the reasons I have not made a charging decision is because we didn't have the information before that we do now," Schimel said. "With that information, I'll be in a better position to make a decision." Michael Steinhafel, Christopher Vnuk's lawyer, said there was little he could say other than that a legal battle looms. "Obviously, his parents are going to fight the forfeiture in Federal Court," Steinhafel said. The parents, who have an unlisted telephone number, could not be reached for comment. Steinhafel will be in Circuit Court Monday continuing a fight over whether police illegally seized the marijuana and paraphernalia from the family's home. The cases got their start on the night of March 25, when Christopher Vnuk, now 24, knocked on the door of an apartment in the 900 block of N. 14th St. in Milwaukee, according to a police report. Undercover officers inside in the midst of an unrelated narcotics investigation opened the door and he entered, the report says. The officers told Vnuk they were police and did a pat-down search, finding a little under 11/2 pounds of marijuana in several packages, $380 in cash and three cellular telephones, the report says. 'Nugs' for sale Police identified the marijuana as a variety known as "nugs," a high-quality, hydroponically grown pot with a high content of THC, the active ingredient in the plant that produces a high. Nugs, according to police, sells for $4,500 a pound on the street. Christopher Vnuk was arrested and taken to the nearby Police Administration Building and later charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, a charge to which he pleaded guilty in July in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. What happened in the hours immediately after his arrest became the basis for a related charge and the legal battle in Waukesha County Circuit Court. Milwaukee police say that when he was questioned the night of his arrest, Christopher Vnuk lied about where he lived. "Further investigation," according to police, led officers to learn that he lived with his parents in the City of Pewaukee. They went there, according to the report, and were allowed inside by Stephen Vnuk, now 52. Police said an overpowering odor of fresh marijuana immediately hit them and they were given permission to search the basement where the son lived. Downstairs police found numerous packages of marijuana, many in vacuum-sealed pouches, according to a criminal complaint. Seventy-seven of the bags contained one ounce of marijuana each. Police later estimated the value of the marijuana at between $94,000 and $360,000, depending on the quantities in which it was sold. They also found cash in several places, including $14,000 "concealed in the headboard of Christopher Vnuk's bed," according to police. He was charged in Waukesha on March 31 with another marijuana trafficking count, but is contesting that case. He contends that the search was illegal because his parents did not authorize it, repeatedly telling officers they needed a search warrant - while officers claimed they had the permission of the son who they said was cooperating. A motion by Steinhafel also contends that the son paid rent to his parents to live in the basement alone and they did not know what he did there. Over the past six months, federal investigators have looked into the purchases of the four cars and the home and examined family bank accounts, according the federal forfeiture complaint. The Mercedes, according to the complaint, was selected by Christopher Vnuk and purchased by his father for $74,000 in March 2002. One month before his arrest, the son and his father returned to the dealership and ordered a 2004 Mercedes for $90,000, the complaint says. One day before his son's arrest, according to the complaint, Stephen Vnuk made a $10,000 down payment on a $28,000 Rolex watch for his son, but he canceled the order two days later, saying Christopher "was in a terrible car accident while driving to Colorado to visit some friends," the complaint says. In May 2001, according to the complaint, the family bought a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner from an Illinois auto museum for $29,500. "The original sales receipt was made out to Christopher Vnuk, however his name was covered with 'white-out,' " the complaint says. "The name Stephen was written over it." In May 1996, a Delafield businessman sold Stephen and Sharon Vnuk a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle for $19,000, the complaint says. "(The businessman) believed that Stephen Vnuk was buying the car for his son, Christopher, who appeared to have all the knowledge about the Chevelle," according to the complaint. "(The businessman) recalled telling Stephen that a 454-horsepower engine was a lot of power for Christopher." Son drove and stored cars The complaint says all three of those cars and the 2001 Mazda were registered to the parents, but that the son was the primary driver of the Mercedes, and arranged for storage of the muscle cars at an auto body shop in Delafield. The investigation also showed that Christopher Vnuk "last earned legitimate wages of $511.50 in 2000," and was seen frequently by neighbors working in the yard of the home, which the family had built in 2000. "(One neighbor) said that she has 'always felt' that Christopher actually owned the house because he took meticulous care of the property, including mowing the lawn every other day," according to the complaint. The woman added that the builder told her he "felt Christopher Vnuk was buying the house as well," the complaint says. Finally, according to the complaint, Stephen and Sharon Vnuk, who work at at an area manufacturer, had "unexplained deposits totaling more than $200,000 in two bank accounts between June 2000 and March 2003." The couple's adjusted gross income for those same years was between $95,000 and $101,000 annually, according to tax records cited in the federal complaint. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager