Thanks for the details of police work gained from your years of experience.
My question remains unanswered, so I’ll rephrase it. After all is said and done, if they don’t prosecute the owner of the cash for illegally acquiring the cash, then how can they justify taking the cash?
I don’t assume to know the motive for the seizure, but it doesn’t matter what I might guess. The police and FBI should either return the cash or prosecute the guy for illegally acquiring it.
After the money is “seized” a certified letter is sent to “owner” stating the intent of the state to seize the money as either “proceeds” or “facilitation.” The owner can then state a claim to the cash. From that point forward the investigation continues. Under a civil forfeiture the money is the “suspect” Under a criminal forfeiture, the money is secondary to the underlying criminal offense.
Here we have a situation where there was a “robbery” or “burglary”; a “felonious assault” ( the stabbing of the son); and a “homicide” (the fatal shooting of a suspect.) We also have a drug violation (the marijuana) and over $400,000 in cash.
This isn’t going to be resolved overnight. The initial incident occurred in June, the story doesn’t say when the FBI seized control of the money. I would guess it would take a month or two for the police and the prosecutor to determine if any charges were going to be filed against the homeowner for the homicide. The article also didn’t say what the other perp may have said. Did the other guy intimate it was a drug deal gone bad?
There are too many questions that remain unanswered, but as to the heart of your question, it’s still possible for this guy to be charged at the Federal level. I can tell you from experience the TF cases can take a long time before charges ARE filed. The key to this is the money HASN’T been forfeited. As near as I can tell there has been no court order of forfeiture. The money has been “SEIZED.” A legal distinction sure, but the owner of the money hasn’t lost an interest or a claim to the funds unless or until the COURT ORDERS the forfeiture.
This story WAS written by someone who has no comprehension of how the forfeiture statutes work. Forfeiture is a valuable tool to remove the profit from crime. Most “horror” stories are from those who got their hands caught in the cookie jar.
Hope this helps and if not...tell me what I missed.
Have a great New Year.