Pubdate: Sat, 27 Dec 2008
Source: News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)
Copyright: 2008 The News-Times
Contact:  http://www.newstimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/637
Author: John Pirro
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States - News)

FORFEITURE FUNDS ENHANCE POLICE BUDGETS

DANBURY -- It's a single sheet of paper, easily overlooked among the
sheaves of legal documents that are gradually filling Felix Cordova's
criminal case file in Danbury Superior Court.

But sometime in the not-to-distant future, it will likely provide
Danbury police with more than $20,000 to pay for a training course,
purchase surveillance equipment, or make undercover purchases of
illegal narcotics as part of a drug investigation.

Earlier this month, detectives from the department's Special
Investigations Division busted the 33-year-old Cordova and several
other people in connection with a street-level heroin selling
operation based out of their Foster Street apartment.

As part of the investigation, police seized an estimated $30,000 in
cash, allegedly proceeds of drug sales.

Even before Cordova and the other defendants appeared in court,
police filed a request for the money under the state's drug asset
forfeiture law, and it's likely that once the cases have been
adjudicated, they will get most of it.

The law permits police in Connecticut to keep 80 percent of assets
seized in a drug or money laundering investigation. The remainder
goes to the state.

It also allows law enforcement agencies to claim any vehicles that
were used to deliver drugs, and if the operation is based out of a
home owned by one of the suspects, authorities can go after that,
too.

It's up to the defendants to prove in court that those assets weren't
purchased with drug sale money.

There is also a federal asset forfeiture law that comes into play
when a federal agency, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration,
is involved in the investigation. In those cases, the government gets
30 percent of the total value of the assets and the remaining 70
percent is divided among the state or local police agencies that were
involved in the case.

"We've had some pretty substantial awards over the years," said
Danbury Detective Lt. James Fisher, head of the SID. "The nice thing
about it is that we can get the equipment we need without burdening
the taxpayers. It's like the drug dealers are paying us to catch 
them."

"We've used it for equipment, training and education, so a lot of
people are benefiting from this, not just the police," Fisher said.

Over the past three fiscal years, from July 1, 2005, through June 30,
2008, Danbury police have received more than $317,000 from the state
asset forfeiture program, according to Dan Garrick, the city's
assistant finance director.

During the most recently concluded fiscal year, 2007-08, the city
received $384 in state forfeiture money and just over $23,000 from
the federal program.

"Last year wasn't a big year" in terms of forfeiture money received,
Fisher said. Because of the time it takes for some cases to be
resolved, especially when there are multiple defendants or the
investigation is spread across several jurisdictions, seized assets
may not be available for distribution until several years after
arrests are made.

That period can be extended if a defendant or someone with an
interest in the property being seized contests the action.

For example, Danbury police are still awaiting resolution of a 2003
case involving an international drug ring dubbed "The Ramos
Organization" by law enforcement officials. The ring was believed to
have smuggled thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United
States, using the luggage of unsuspecting air travelers, before it
was broken up by the DEA and various state and local police agencies.

Four of the suspects lived in Danbury, and Danbury police will
eventually receive a portion of the $1.6 million cash seized.

More often, the money comes in increments of a few hundred or a few
thousand dollars at a time, Fisher said.

When a house or real estate is seized, the property is sold and the
proceeds distributed to the participating agencies, according to John
Hughes, chief of the civil division at the U. S. Attorney's Office in
Connecticut. When the asset is a vehicle, local or state police have 
the option of selling it to get cash or using it for plainclothes
investigations.

That's what Danbury police will be doing with the 2005 Honda, valued
at about $11,500, the department received under the federal program
earlier this year, Fisher said.

Other area police departments have reaped the rewards of the federal
and state programs.

Brookfield Chief Robin Montgomery said his department has used about
$12,000 of $60,000 it received to get a police dog.

New Milford police received more than $22,000 in state money and
$65,000 in federal funds under the respective forfeiture programs in
fiscal 2007-08, and have used part of it to install computers in
cruisers, purchase surveillance equipment and make undercover drug
buys, Capt. Michael Mrazik said.

"It's certainly welcome," New Milford Chief Colin McCormick said. "It
provides money to fight drugs, enhance police officer safety and
provide some relief  to law-abiding citizens."
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