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Dishwasher gets cleaned
PalmBeachPost.com ^ | January 31, 2007 | Editorial

Posted on 01/31/2007 1:12:31 PM PST by primeval patriot

U.S. District Judge James Cohn has forced a Guatemalan dishwasher to surrender nearly all his life savings to the government because he didn't sign a declaration form before trying to board an airplane.

Pedro Zapeta of Stuart had $59,000 in his bag when Customs agents searched it and confiscated the money at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Sept. 18, 2005. Mr. Zapeta, a 39-year-old Mayan whose native language is Quiche, has said that he was unaware of the requirement to disclose amounts greater than $10,000. On Monday, Judge Cohn ruled that the $10,000 was all that Mr. Zapeta could keep. He must forfeit the rest - $49,000. Mr. Zapeta has no real option for appealing, and is likely to be deported soon.

"It is unconscionable for the government to take that money," said Robert Gershman, Mr. Zapeta's attorney. "They do it because they can. That's the only reason. It's just not right. He could have left with all $59,000 if he had signed the form."

In his six-page ruling, Judge Cohn said that the government had dropped earlier claims that the cash was drug money, and that prosecutors were accusing Mr. Zapeta of a civil currency violation, not a criminal offense. Mr. Gershman argued that Mr. Zapeta should pay a fine of no more than $5,000 for being negligent; he never had flown on a plane. "There is no rule of thumb in these cases," the lawyer said. "They shouldn't just rubber-stamp them with a decision like this."

Mr. Zapeta entered the country illegally 11 years ago and worked as a dishwasher for numerous Stuart restaurants, often holding two jobs at a time for little more than minimum wage. He intended to start a business with relatives upon returning to Guatemala. Mr. Gershman believes that the dishwasher's immigration and social status worked against him: "If Mr. Zapeta were a professional man, or more intellectual, or more mainstream, there's no question that he would not have been treated this way."

This is the guest worker President Bush has in mind when he proposes immigration reform. Pedro Zapeta didn't come to stay. He came to make investment money he can't make back home. Having done so, he was ready to deport himself. Judge Cohn had a chance to make sense out of this bureaucratic bungling. Instead, he displayed little logic and even less compassion.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: aliens; assetforfeiture; dealer; drug; govwatch; hegeliandialectic; immigrantlist; wod
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To: Between the Lines

How else would you get back to guatemala if you had $59,000? I bet the ticket was under 200 bucks, and I bet it would cost that much to set up other arrangements.


161 posted on 01/31/2007 2:28:59 PM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: FreedomCalls
"the govenment taxpayers would owe him"
EITC = more welfare.
162 posted on 01/31/2007 2:29:46 PM PST by dynachrome ("Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?")
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To: Centurion2000

It's not his fault we subsidize so much. I hate when government does a million things it shouldn't do with my tax dollars, and then claims that we OWE them because they did it.


163 posted on 01/31/2007 2:30:14 PM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: CharlesWayneCT
How much in back taxes do you think a guy working as a dishwasher will have? If he was legal, he probably would have gotten earned income tax credits.

And if he had wings, like the proverbial frog, he would never have had to use an airplane...

164 posted on 01/31/2007 2:30:17 PM PST by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: CharlesWayneCT

Is he an illegal alien or not? You think ittakes a trial to establish that? Seriously? You really are trying to avoid that fact aren't you. Why?


165 posted on 01/31/2007 2:31:19 PM PST by Just sayin (Is is what it is, for if it was anything else, it would be isn't.)
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To: sergeantdave
The criminal fascist syndicate occupying Washington is simply creating more illegal precedent to steal your money if you don't have a note from mommy government to be carrying around cash in excess of 50 bucks.

This has been the law since at least 1982, if not 1970. It's not new. And you have to be carrying more than $10,000 in cash, not 50 bucks. Most people don't try to leave the country with more than $10,000 in cash. The law specifically allows for warrantless searches at the border and forfeiture if the proper filings aren't made. Willfully violating the law can land you in jail for 5 years.
166 posted on 01/31/2007 2:31:39 PM PST by conservative in nyc
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To: 1rudeboy
My comments on this thread stand for themselves. Not my problem if you do not understand them . . . others did.

Please.
Do not confuse lack of response with "understanding".

In my case it's more like "ignoring".

167 posted on 01/31/2007 2:33:24 PM PST by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: AnnaZ

"Fine him, deport him, but give him his money back."

Amen.


168 posted on 01/31/2007 2:33:31 PM PST by 2dogjoe (Have a Blessed Day)
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To: Just sayin

No. I don't consider a person in our country illegally who boards a plane as "dangerous". The act of entering a country illegally is not indicative of a violent personality. "illegal" is a state of existance, not a character trait.

He's not being fined for being illegal, he's having his money seized for not writing down the number on a piece of paper.


169 posted on 01/31/2007 2:34:05 PM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Just sayin

He didn't have the money taken because he was illegal, he had the money taken because he didn't declare it. The seizure rules allow you to take people's property without a finding of guilt or a trial on the merits, through a simple declaration with judicial review, like a warrant.

Being illegal, he will be deported. But being illegal had nothing to do with the money being taken from him.


170 posted on 01/31/2007 2:36:07 PM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Publius6961
In my case it's more like "ignoring."

Glad you cleared that up. Your comments looked like knee-jerk reactions.

171 posted on 01/31/2007 2:39:47 PM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: Just sayin

And I've never avoided the fact he is illegal. I'm fine with throwing him out of the country, I simply am one of those who doesn't think we should take all his money away because he is illegal. If there are real criminal charges against him, and those charges lead to fines, I'm fine with making him pay those fines from the money he has. If he didn't pay taxes and owed them, take money for that.

I don't think that a job you take AS an illegal is an illegal job, or that they gains you get are "ill-gotten".


172 posted on 01/31/2007 2:40:37 PM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: CharlesWayneCT
He's not being fined for being illegal, he's having his money seized for not writing down the number on a piece of paper.

Unfortunately, I believe that the latter is directly the result of the former, his protestations of ignorance notwithstanding...

173 posted on 01/31/2007 2:43:11 PM PST by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: CharlesWayneCT
Of course, being illegal, he was probably worried about what would happen if he declared it.

Funny how one 'little" white lie always turns into another huh?

Did he earn this money legally? Yes or NO?

If yes, explain how. If no, then explain why he should get to keep ill gotten gains.

Dude, This example really is that simple. Maybe you would be better served to make this case about an American citizen that isn't so easily a demonstratable criminal actor and thus easily shown to be in posession of a pocketful of ill gotten gains.
174 posted on 01/31/2007 2:43:32 PM PST by Just sayin (Is is what it is, for if it was anything else, it would be isn't.)
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To: AppyPappy

If his intention was to retire in his homeland why would he apply for citizenship? He did need a work visa though.


175 posted on 01/31/2007 2:48:13 PM PST by B4Ranch (Press "1" for English, or Press "2" and you will be disconnected until you learn to speak English.)
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To: Just sayin

Did or didn't he spend 11 years washing dirty dishes for you and I to eat off of?

It's not like he forcefully took this money from an innocent party without their consent. That's the government's job.


176 posted on 01/31/2007 2:48:15 PM PST by CGTRWK
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To: Publius6961

I am certain that he didn't fill in the form because he was afraid they would find out he was illegal (which I'm also sure they would have, nobody leaves with that much cash without being detained).

I think he didn't understand the consequences of that act.

It's not punishment, of course. Because if it is, it's unfairly administered, since the "punishment" for the same crime is based on how much money you have.

It's not even being treated as a crime, more like a "you didn't write down any money, so you must not have had any, so we'll take it all from you, good day."


177 posted on 01/31/2007 2:52:40 PM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: conservative in nyc

Sorry, since when or where in the constitution is it the government's business to check how much private property (dollars) you carry in your pocket?

And since when does statutory law trump our rights in private property?


178 posted on 01/31/2007 2:52:41 PM PST by sergeantdave (Consider that nearly half the people you pass on the street meet Lenin's definition of useful idiot)
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To: 1rudeboy
Glad you cleared that up. Your comments looked like knee-jerk reactions.

Isn't the system wonderful?
Anyone can ignore anyone else!
And I don't even need clichés to make a point.

Best regards.

179 posted on 01/31/2007 2:53:35 PM PST by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: Chani

for later consumption


180 posted on 01/31/2007 2:54:48 PM PST by Chani (Happy cows make good cheese.)
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