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Montana Will Take Your Money

Mike

Well-known member
May 31, 2015 5:00 pm • Alison Noon Associated Press

Lorenzo Ayala saved more than $16,000 to buy tractor parts while on a road trip to Montana to visit a woman he met online, but he ended up unwittingly contributing it to the state's first K-9 unit.

Ayala forfeited his wad of cash after a state trooper became suspicious that the California farmer's generous amount of cologne, cluttered car and disputed criminal history were signs of drug trafficking.

Ayala, of Palo Alto, was never charged with a crime — but Montana kept his money.

This year, Montana became the fourth state to overhaul what activists call "policing for profit." Beginning July 1, officers must store suspects' assets, such as the cash Ayala had in his trunk, until the owner is convicted of a crime involving that property.

"The police ought to have to prove something before they take your stuff away," Chris Young, one of Ayala's attorneys, said. "And now they do."

Since 2013, the patrol spent $172,000 in drug forfeiture funds — including money like Ayala's that was never connected to a crime — and about $21,000 in grants to buy and train the state's first K-9 unit, spokesman John Barnes said.

The state Department of Justice declined to answer whether Montana will participate more in a federal asset forfeiture program under the new statute and offered no response to the law, but opposed it at the Legislature this session.

Under the outgoing law, the state can confiscate any assets that law enforcement officers have probable cause to believe were obtained illegally.

Ayala was traveling back to California in February 2013 after the Billings woman he met online stood him up and he was unable to find the tractor parts he needed. Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Erick Fetterhoff pulled him over on Interstate 90 near Livingston, according to court records.

Ayala and Fetterhoff could not be reached for comment.

Ayala's license plates were expired, his driver's license was suspended and he should have been driving with a breath-alcohol ignition device. Fetterhoff, a drug recognition expert, saw several items that made him suspicious: a single key in the ignition, a bag of beef jerky, a bottle of Visine, cologne, lighters, clothing stored in plastic grocery bags, and trash littered throughout the car.

Troopers are trained that people who transport narcotics often use masking scents to cover up drug odors and accumulate excessive trash during long periods of travel.

Fetterhoff called for a K-9 unit from the Livingston Police Department and the drug-sniffing dog alerted officers to the presence of narcotics in the Volkswagen Jetta. The trooper searched the vehicle and found the $16,020 in the trunk.

Despite finding no drugs and not charging Ayala with a crime, state prosecutors petitioned to keep the cash. District Judge Brenda Gilbert sided with the state and ordered Ayala to relinquish the money on Oct. 27, 2014.

"Though no drugs were found in the vehicle, the odor of narcotics can linger in a vehicle and result in a positive canine alert, even after the narcotics have been removed," Gilbert wrote in her ruling.

Ayala's lawyers, Young and Elisabeth Montoya, were unable to prove otherwise. Young said the new law changes that.

"It's a tremendous improvement that the government has to prove the relationship instead of forcing the person to prove there is no relationship," Young said. "The burden of proof is on the right person now."
 

Brad S

Well-known member
James bovard wrote lost rights, and chronicled just these sorts of seizures. Some Mexican was up here trying to buy a cattle pot - who the hell is going to accept a Mexican check, so he had cash. His cash was seized. Not that uncommon an occurrence.
 

Mike

Well-known member
LOS ANGELES (CN) - A former FBI special agent has been indicted for allegedly stealing over $100,000 in drug money seized during the execution of search warrants, the Justice Department said Thursday. Scott Bowman, 44, was charged on Wednesday with three counts of conversion of property by a federal employee, three counts of obstruction, two counts of money laundering, one count of falsifying records and one count of witness tampering. The indictment was unsealed on Thursday and alleges Bowman stole the money between June and August 2014, after the funds were transferred to his custody following the execution of search warrants. Bowman went on a spending spree with the money, blowing $43,000 for a Dodge Challenger and $27,500 on a Toyota Scion - and nearly $27,000 to outfit the vehicles with new rims, speakers and tires, the indictment alleges. The Justice Department also says Bowman spent $15,000 to pay for his wife's plastic surgery and deposited nearly $11,000 into a checking account, which he used to pay for a weekend stay at a luxury resort in Las Vegas, according to the indictment. Finding it necessary to create a cover story for his cash windfall, the 21-page indictment says that Bowman allegedly told colleagues he had received a $96,000 advance on his inheritance from his sick father. As questions mounted from other law enforcement officers, Bowman allegedly told FBI supervisors that employees of the company where the agency deposits drug money for safekeeping had commingled different seizures, according to the indictment. Bowman also allegedly asked another agent to lie for him and even provided the agent with a cover story to use if investigators questioned him, the indictment says. The case is being investigated by DOJ's Office of the Inspector General and prosecuted by the department's public integrity section.
 

loomixguy

Well-known member
I hope the wife got some bodacious boobs out of the deal....but who in their right mind would want a Scion with fancy rims & tires? It's still just a rice burner.
 

littlejoe

Well-known member
hoppy, yer treadin the slippery slope of emptied swanson's pot pies, depends, etc----hope to have a skid steer in yer area to douche out yer storage unit/slash abode shortly. meanwhile, please tie a rope on yerself and to power pole outside----should it avalanche, first responders otter be able to snake yer bony ass thru that pile o' slime w/o endangering theyselves........
 

hopalong

Well-known member
poor little uninformed lil joe,,, thinks he is on top of the situation but in reality the bottom of the dung heap... ealways promising to send a skid steer that never shows up


figures
just another big mouthed guy from MT..
 
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