Posted on 11/09/2022 3:15:29 PM PST by nickcarraway
California police seized more than $17,000 from Vera and Apollonia Ward and accused them of laundering drug money, all without charging them with a crime. The two sisters were trying to start a dog-breeding business.
Vera and Apollonia Ward, two sisters from Virginia, were just getting a dog-breeding business off the ground last year when they encountered an unusual setback: The police accused them of laundering drug money and seized more than $17,000 from them.
The Ward sisters were never charged with a crime, though. They had run afoul of civil asset forfeiture, which allows police to seize property suspected of being connected to criminal activity, even if the owner is never charged or convicted of a crime.
Law enforcement groups say civil forfeiture is a vital tool to disrupt drug trafficking and criminal networks by targeting their illicit revenues. However, civil liberties groups, news outlets, and a broad range of advocacy groups have published numerous reports showing that asset forfeiture lacks due process protections and often targets everyday people rather than cartel lords.
One of those groups, Arizona's Goldwater Institute, a public interest law firm, ended up taking on the Ward sisters' case. The Goldwater Institute recently released a short video on the sisters' ordeal:
Before last year, though, the Ward sisters, like many people, had never heard of civil forfeiture. They had started a business breeding American Bullies. They said they had a very successful first litter and were looking to buy two more dogs for breeding. Last November, they tried to send $17,500 in cash through FedEx to a middleman in California, essentially a dog broker, to scout and purchase two new animals for them.
They said they received an unusual call several days later from someone claiming to be at a FedEx facility, who they later learned was a police officer. The person on the phone asked if there was anything in the package he should know about. No, they said, just the cash.
In follow-up calls, it became clear that they weren't dealing with FedEx customer service but rather the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, which suspected the cash was drug proceeds. It became clear that the police were neither letting the cash go to its destination nor sending it back to the Wards.
"They said they smelled marijuana on the money," Vera Ward says. "We don't smoke. It's not plausible since my sister and I aren't around it."
Not to mention the sisters say they had pulled the money out of the bank several days before they sent it and had receipts to back up their claim.
"We had proof, and they were like, 'No you don't, that's drug money,'" Vera Ward remembers. When the sisters refused to cave and say the money was drug proceeds, they say officers threatened to go after them for money laundering.
When the sisters still refused to admit any connection to drug dealing, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office seized the money anyway, and the San Joaquin District Attorney's Office moved to forfeit it under California's civil forfeiture laws.
Worries About Inflation Didn't Stop Voters From Approving Minimum Wage Increases More than half of U.S. states have passed reforms to their civil asset forfeiture laws over the past decade, requiring convictions before property can be forfeited and raising the standard of evidence in forfeiture cases. However, cases like the Wards' still pop up frequently, especially when it comes to cash being moved through airports and along highways, even though traveling domestically with large amounts of cash is perfectly legal.
"Doing research, we found out that [civil forfeiture] was common, especially for innocent people," Vera Ward says, "but it seemed like [police] had the upper hand."
The sizeable amount of cash made it worthwhile for the Wards to find lawyers and fight the seizure. In many smaller cash seizures, the cost of hiring an attorney would make the returns negligible or even a net negative.
After the Wards connected with the Goldwater Institute, prosecutors relented and returned the sisters' money. Still, law enforcement held their cash for six months on accusations that weren't supported by evidence. The delay set their business back, and it decreased their trust in the police, who they say were rude and unprofessional.
"It was a very disheartening and offensive ordeal we had to go through," Apollonia Ward says. "We had to prove we weren't criminals. We had to go through a lot of back and forth, and our lawyers had to stay on top of them to get them to do everything right."
The ONLY thing I ever agreed on with Eric Holder was eliminating civil forfeiture. It is criminal. And remember this when people shout, “back the blue.”
I believe you are thinking of Pitt Bulls, aka American Stafforshire Terriers. American bulldogs are an AKC breed that are not bred for fighting, and are beautiful dogs. Had one myself, “Tank” was a sweet boy.
Don’t keep cash for thugs to seize !
California is pure WOKE about pet breeding or grooming. The ladies should go to Arizona. I understand therewill be a new governor with common sense
Well you know the old saying...
STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES!
Legitimate business does business through banks and other such entities.
Doesn’t seem like it is a family pet type.
Is an American Bully the same as a Pitbull?
The American Bully is not a Pitbull but a cross between 3 Pitbull-type dog breeds, alongside bloodlines from breeds like the Old English Bulldog or Mastiffs.
American bulldogs are usually white and resemble a boxer on steroids. Cool dogs
A violation of the 4th, 5th, 8th, and 14th Amendments. Hopefully, our conservative Supreme Court will ban civil forfeiture.
Certainly is. I have no problem with asset forfeiture as long as there is a trial and conviction. Otherwise. it is blatant theft. Hopefully, a good case is on its way to the Supreme Court.
Last November, they tried to send $17,500 in cash through FedEx to a middleman in California
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Stupid move.
There’s something that doesn’t pass the smell test here, and it’s not the marijuana I’m talking about. Pet breeders are in the business of breeding their particular breed of cat or dog because they love the breed and want to produce offspring featuring the best qualities of both parents—not just to make money. As a matter of fact, most breeders who do it right don’t make money or don’t make much. For these women to insist on dealing with cash instead of credit cards or checks is highly suspicious-—like they didn’t want to be traceable. That they chose a breed commonly used in dogfighting is another red checkmark. So I think they were trying to open a dogfighting facility or breed dogs to fight. There are so many pitbulls and American bullies in shelters; why would they want to create more in a wholesale fashion?
(Chet99)
First mistake was assuming the “FEDEX” caller was really from FedEx.
Second mistake was telling the caller what was actually in the package.
Third mistake was not wrapping the money in aluminum foil so it can’t be X-rayed. I learned this just a few weeks ago.
As much as I disagree with these seizures, I can’t see why these chicks didn’t send a check.
It is a lame excuse.
Its admittedly known you can find traces of drugs on much of the paper money in circulation.
The US Attorney should have still charged every last government employee involved with multiple FELONIES of Theft, Grand Theft....Then SEIZED THEIR ASSETS as fruits of a Criminal Enterprise
Drug possession laws enabled police to search anyone at will. Police just have to say they “smelled pot” and no way to prove otherwise. Even if they don’t find anything, they can still imprison you at will and steal all your property by planting a tiny fungible package.
WOD has been an absolute failure and all it has done is open a barn door for the state to abuse our most fundamental rights.
Thankfully such madness is becoming a thing of the past in many places...
Who sends $17,000 in cash via FedEx?
“civil forfeiture”
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It’s an evil, vile concept: Legalized theft by government.
The only have to SUSPECT the money is tied to illegal activity. And they “suspect” that every dollar that they find is tied to drugs. And there is literally nothing to deter them except a civil lawsuit that holds no one responsible because the person who seized it won’t have to pay it back.
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