“The publicity and light shown on this scam ended it and some state police resigned to go to work for local parish sheriffs offices. But the mentality remains ingrained. Public office for private gain and respect my authority even if I am an obvious pile of excrement continues to be alive and well here and other places.”
BTW, such seizures can occur on mere SUSPICION of wrong-doing...and if there is later a “not guilty” result for the supposed underlying crime, the asset is STILL GONE (oh, you can sue to get it back...but good luck being able to afford to sue a municipality or state with unlimited (compared to you) funds.
I had a Western Civilization teacher in high school (late ‘70s) who said that a government had to be VERY careful about taking or destroying a person’s house - because most people have to literally work a lifetime to pay for it, and if it is taken or destroyed then a lot of people will feel that they have nothing left to lose.