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Title: DEA to traveler: Thanks, I’ll take that cash
Source:
Albuquerque Journal
URL Source: http://www.abqjournal.com/580107/ne ... ring-music-video-producer.html
Published: May 6, 2015
Author: Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Post Date: 2015-05-12 10:32:27 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 4796
Comments: 14
Maybe he should have taken traveler’s checks. But it’s too late for that now. All the money – $16,000 in cash – that Joseph Rivers said he had saved and relatives had given him to launch his dream in Hollywood is gone, seized during his trip out West not by thieves but by Drug Enforcement Administration agents during a stop at the Amtrak train station in Albuquerque. An incident some might argue is still theft, just with the government’s blessing. Rivers, 22, wasn’t detained and has not been charged with any crime since his money was taken last month. That doesn’t matter. Under a federal law enforcement tool called civil asset forfeiture, he need never be arrested or convicted of a crime for the government to take away his cash, cars or property – and keep it. Agencies like the DEA can confiscate money or property if they have a hunch, a suspicion, a notion that maybe, possibly, perhaps the items are connected with narcotics. Or something else illegal. Or maybe the fact that the person holding a bunch of cash is a young black man is good enough. “What this is, is having your money stolen by a federal agent acting under the color of law,” said Michael Pancer, a San Diego attorney who represents Rivers, an aspiring music video producer. “It’s a national epidemic. If my office got four to five cases just recently, and I’m just one attorney, you know this is happening thousands of times.” A Washington Post investigation last year found that local, state and federal agents nationwide have seized $2.5 billion in cash from almost 62,000 people since 2001 – without warrants or indictments. It’s unknown how many got their money back. It happened, Rivers said, to him on April 15 as he was traveling on Amtrak from Dearborn, Mich., near his hometown of Romulus, Mich., to Los Angeles to fulfill his dream of making a music video. Rivers, in an email, said he had saved his money for years, and his mother and other relatives scraped together the rest of the $16,000. Rivers said he carried his savings in cash because he has had problems in the past with taking out large sums of money from out-of-state banks. A DEA agent boarded the train at the Albuquerque Amtrak station and began asking various passengers, including Rivers, where they were going and why. When Rivers replied that he was headed to LA to make a music video, the agent asked to search his bags. Rivers complied. Rivers was the only passenger singled out for a search by DEA agents – and the only black person on his portion of the train, Pancer said. In one of the bags, the agent found the cash, still in the Michigan bank envelope. “I even allowed him to call my mother, a military veteran and (hospital) coordinator, to corroborate my story,” Rivers said. “Even with all of this, the officers decided to take my money because he stated that he believed that the money was involved in some type of narcotic activity.” Rivers was left penniless, his dream deferred. “These officers took everything that I had worked so hard to save and even money that was given to me by family that believed in me,” Rivers said in his email. “I told (the DEA agents) I had no money and no means to survive in Los Angeles if they took my money. They informed me that it was my responsibility to figure out how I was going to do that.” Other travelers had witnessed what happened. One of them, a New Mexico man I’ve written about before but who asked that I not mention his name, provided a way for Rivers to get home, contacted attorneys – and me. “He was literally like my guardian angel that came out of nowhere,” Rivers said. Sean Waite, the agent in charge for the DEA in Albuquerque, said he could not comment on the Rivers case because it is ongoing. He disputed allegations that Rivers was targeted because of his race. Waite said that in general DEA agents look for “indicators” such as whether the person bought an expensive one-way ticket with cash, if the person is traveling from or to a city known as a hot spot for drug activity, if the person’s story has inconsistencies or if the large sums of money found could have been transported by more conventional means. “We don’t have to prove that the person is guilty,” Waite said. “It’s that the money is presumed to be guilty.” DEA agents may choose to ask the person whether his or her possessions can be searched in what is called a “consensual encounter.” If the subject refuses, the bags – but not the person – can be held until a search warrant is obtained, he said. Waite said that he could not provide exact figures on how often seizures occur in Albuquerque but that last week the DEA had five “consensual encounters” that resulted in seizures. Whatever is seized is held during an internal administrative process (read: not public) while a case is made to connect the property to narcotics. Subjects can file a claim to have the items returned – and then they wait, sometimes forever. While travelers like Rivers still have to worry about DEA agents, state and local law enforcement in New Mexico no longer has these virtually unlimited seizure powers. Five days before Rivers’ encounter in Albuquerque, Gov. Susana Martinez signed into law a bill that bars state and local law enforcement from seizing money or property under civil asset forfeiture. The law takes effect in July. But the new state law won’t supersede the federal law, meaning federal agencies such as the DEA are still free to take your cash on arguably the flimsiest of legal grounds. Meanwhile, Rivers is back in Michigan, dreaming, praying. “He’s handed this over to God,” his attorney said. Which seems infinitely safer than handing over anything further to government agents.
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#1. To: cranky, hondo68. Operation 40, Gatlin, GrandIsland, misterwhite, Vinny, scumbag drug warriors (#0)
“I even allowed him to call my mother, a military veteran and (hospital) coordinator, to corroborate my story,” Rivers said. “Even with all of this, the officers decided to take my money because he stated that he believed that the money was involved in some type of narcotic activity.” Another American citizen who is an innocent victim of the War on Drugs. I'm sure race had something to do with this, however white citizens are robbed by these badged thugs as well. The DEA thief "believed" it was involved with drug activity - no proof mind you, not one single shred of evidence to prove that it was drug connected - so the narc stole the money. Why? Because he could.
“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” ~ Psalm 55:22
The man who had his money stolen by the DEA did not commit any crime, there was NO evidence that the money was drug connected, and you come here and self-righteously quote the Bible as if that will exonerate the theft. There was nothing "righteous" about the DEA stealing money from an innocent citizen. This is the result of your "war on drugs" Tater - the innocent end up violated.
Forfeiture is bad. So bad that perhaps you can take a hiatus from your time consuming effort doing your obsessive cop hating activity and spend that time communicating with Congress to get the law repealed of modified to acceptability. Think you can do that….huh?
Jeb Bush is trying to raise $2.5 billion, and Hillary a similar amount. It's the D&R crime syndicate, once again?
Here I thought we had a young man, struggling to save some money, borrowing from friends and family to get a start in the music business. But then he tells us he's had troubles shuffling around "large sums of money" between out- of-state banks.
Put a turban on your head and you'll be left alone.
WHAT?? First, how does he know this guy is really a DEA agent? ID's can be faked. And if I've got $16,000 in cash in my bag, I'm gonna be real careful who knows that. Second, even if I was convinced he was a DEA agent, I'd tell him to get a warrant, knowing he has no probable cause.
Well, you don't expect the DEA to believe your momma, do you? Hey, how about getting your LA music video guy on the phone? He could easily confirm your story and be more credible than your mother.
But then he tells us he's had troubles shuffling around "large sums of money" between out- of-state banks. I missed that....thanks.
The war on drugs has little to do with it. Civil asset forfeiture can be applied to any area. What it does do is licence glorified thugs to deliberately execute malfeasance in office for their own purposes. It should be made illegal. The first two practitions of it should be sentenced to ten years in the slammer along with their supervisors who were in collusion with it. That's a warning shot. After that the penalty should be death by hanging. Under the present govermental system, labeling evil thuggery with a fancy abstract name automatinally licenses it. Bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde should have declared themselves in the business of civil asset forfeiture.
The federal government has become progressively intrusional and compliance is subject only to the wild imagination and ingenuity of swaggering sadists. This must be stopped.
And you whinning about it on LF does absolutely NOTHING. Is it time that you do SOMETHING? What can you do? It has been said that “you can’t fight the government” … or something like that. Well, I am here to tell you that you can do almost anything you put your mind to. All you need do is to take the enormous amount of time you spend on reporting these incidents and spend that time to follow a few simple steps to change this bad law. First, you start by doing some research. Then. find the right level of government to correct the problem. After that, you contact your legislator and get the process rolling. Simple….right? Now it may take a while to accomplish your goal and get the law changed. But, always remember above all that changing a law through the democratic process is one of your basic rights as an American citizen. God Bless America! Go ahead, Deckard….repeat that out loud, it’s not hard to do.
It's ridiculously corrupt. This is why New Mexico recently took such strong action against continuing civil asset forfeiture cases like this one. However, it is unlikely that applies to DEA operations that occur in NM, like this one.
In one of the bags, the agent found the cash, still in the Michigan bank envelope.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#2. To: Deckard, cranky, hondo68. Operation 40, Gatlin, GrandIsland, misterwhite, Vinny, cop hater scumbag (#1)
“He’s handed this over to God,” his attorney said.
#3. To: Gatlin (#2)
“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall”
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#4. To: Deckard (#3)
#5. To: Deckard, campaign fundraising? (#1)
The D&R terrorists hate us because we're free, to vote second party
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#6. To: cranky (#0)
"Rivers said he carried his savings in cash because he has had problems in the past with taking out large sums of money from out-of-state banks."
#7. To: Deckard (#1)
#8. To: cranky (#0)
"... the agent asked to search his bags. Rivers complied."
#9. To: cranky (#0)
“I even allowed him to call my mother, a military veteran and (hospital) coordinator, to corroborate my story,” Rivers said"
#10. To: misterwhite, Cranky, Deckard (#6)
#11. To: Deckard (#1)
Another American citizen who is an innocent victim of the War on Drugs.
#12. To: All (#11)
(Edited)
#13. To: Deckard (#3)
...the innocent end up violated.
#14. To: cranky (#0)
“We don’t have to prove that the person is guilty,” Waite said. “It’s that the money is presumed to be guilty.”
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