DEA Seized Life Savings From Hard-Working Grandfather, Never Charged Him With a Crime
Institute for Justice
17 Aug 2021
Kermit Warren is a hardworking grandfather and the head deacon of his church in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. After losing his home to Hurricane Katrina, Kermit managed to rebuild his life. Thanks to a dogged work ethic, frugal lifestyle, diligent saving, and a small inheritance, Kermit managed to build a nest egg of nearly $30,000 in cash over several years. When Kermit lost his job due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he tried to use his savings to purchase a tow truck that he could use to support himself. But, on a trip to Ohio, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers took Kermit’s much-needed life savings. Now, the federal government is trying to keep his money using the abusive practice of civil forfeiture, which does not require charging Kermit with any crime, let alone securing a conviction.
Kermit and his youngest son, Leo, lost their hotel jobs when the pandemic began. They decided to turn Kermit’s longtime side gig of hauling scrap metal into a fulltime, father-son enterprise. But they needed a tow truck for the business to support them. In early November 2020, with Kermit’s cash life savings in hand, they flew to Ohio, where they had arranged to look at a truck that they hoped to buy and drive home. But when the truck turned out to be too large for their needs, they had to fly back to New Orleans.
At the Columbus airport, TSA screeners noticed that Kermit had a large amount of cash in his bag. They asked him about it but let him continue to his gate. Later, as Kermit and Leo were waiting to board their flight, DEA agents approached them and asked questions about Kermit’s cash. The officers were uninterested in Kermit’s and Leo’s evidence about the source and purpose of the money; it was clear the officers were simply there to take it. Kermit panicked and did something he greatly regrets: In a last-ditch effort to avoid losing his hard-earned life savings, he told the agents that he was a retired New Orleans police officer and showed them his other son’s old badge, which Kermit keeps for sentimental reasons. The officers saw through this right away and Kermit admitted that he was not a former cop.
The DEA agents took all of Kermit’s money. But they did not arrest Kermit or Leo or charge them with any crime. Instead, the agents let them board their plane to New Orleans without Kermit’s life savings.
About six months later, the government filed a civil forfeiture complaint in federal court, arguing that Kermit’s money should be permanently taken because it is somehow connected to drug activity. But the government’s allegations do not connect Kermit or his money to any crime. Instead, the government contends that Kermit vaguely fits the profile of a drug courier. But the government should not be able to take property forever with flimsy evidence; it should have to prove someone’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Now, Kermit has teamed up with the Institute for Justice to call the government’s bluff and ensure that the judiciary holds the government to its burden of presenting actual evidence of criminality before taking away what he worked so hard to set aside.
In November 2020, Drug Enforcement Administration agents at the Columbus, Ohio, airport seized nearly $30,000 from Kermit Warren on the suspicion that the funds were connected to drugs - depriving the out-of-work New Orleans shoe shiner of his entire life savings.
Warren was carrying the large amount of cash in hopes of purchasing a tow truck, but the purchase had fallen through, and when the grandfather failed to provide suitable answers to officials' questions about the money, authorities stripped him of the cash completely, even though he was not charged with a crime.
Now, after nearly a year of financial hardship and legal woes, Warren is finally getting his money back.
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:25 am
by W. Kevin Vicklund
Never have I been so nervous about flying as the time I flew to London with $10,000 in cash. A month after 9/11, my company laid off 10% of the workforce and early retired another 10%. I was in the first category, my father in the second. He was engaged to an Englishwoman, so he arranged for a small ceremony in the States so my grandmother could attend (and taxes purposes), then moved to England. The big wedding was held in Wales in January, and I was best man. He had put me on his retirement account so I could periodically wire transfer money to my new stepmother's account. However, since I was flying out, he figured I might as well bring a wad of cash with me and avoid the fees. I ended up snagging a $20 and buying lunch in the airport so I would be under the mandatory reporting limit, but I sweated it the whole flight. Fortunately nothing happened.
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 9:57 am
by Tiredretiredlawyer
How does $10,000 in cash feel in your hands?
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:40 am
by Frater I*I
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 9:57 am
How does $10,000 in cash feel in your hands?
Good, but not as good as $20,000....
Don't ask how I know these things....
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:45 am
by bill_g
Depends on the denomination. But, even in twenties, it's only a stack about a three fingers tall.
And you can ask me how I know. Ain't afeared. It's emergency money in case one of us dies, and the state puts a hold on our bank accounts. It's more than enough for the survivor to live off of for several months until everything goes through probate without racking up credit card debt.
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 1:40 pm
by W. Kevin Vicklund
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 9:57 am
How does $10,000 in cash feel in your hands?
About the same as a stack of ones. Except for the eight hours of puckering, of course.
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 3:19 pm
by Tiredretiredlawyer
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:22 am
by northland10
I once had a million dollars worth of bearer bonds in my lap. Not quite the same as having huge wads of cash but still, not something I've experienced since.
In my youngin days, I worked in a trust operations department at a bank and the trust officer and others had gone through a recently deceased person's house to clean out all the securities and other items that needed to be deposited into her trust. Her husband had passed many years before and she was not attentive to all of the financial end of her estate. They found bearer bonds that had not been clipped in over 20 years along with CD and stock certificates all over the house. It was all hands on deck (and high security) for that day so we could get it all processed and moved on to its next stops without lingering at our office. $10 million in securities, especially in bearer bonds, is not something you want sitting around for a long period in the safe.
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 1:00 pm
by chancery
Fascinating story. Do you remember -- and only if you're free to tell -- whether she had enough other resources on which to live comfortably despite not clipping coupons etc?
I had an aunt who had inherited a bond, face amount several thousand dollars, with an extremely long maturity. Forty, fifty years? Not sure, but extremely long. One of those traditional securities on a large sheet of parchment paper with a a colossal engraving as its centerpiece.
For decades my aunt had diligently clipped and redeemed the coupons. When the last coupon had been clipped, she gave a sigh, and then, because the engraving was such a fine work of art, as they traditionally were, carefully cut out the engraving for display -- I actually think she taped it to her refrigerator -- and discarded the rest.
A while later her brother visited, and practically had a heart attack when he saw what was on the fridge. "Don't you realize that you can redeem the face amount too?"
Fortunately there was a happy ending. Enough of the document was left for her to identify herself as a bondholder, and she was paid the face amount, less a small insurance premium charged in cases of missing and mutilated securities, to protect against a potential rival claimant.
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 2:37 pm
by raison de arizona
This is totally within the law, the money doesn't have to be illegal. Important reminder kids, you can't take more than $10k in cash on a plane or it will get legally confiscated, regardless of the source.
More Than $100K Seized After K-9 Officer At Dallas Love Field Airport Sniffs Out Bag
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — High praise for a K-9 officer at Dallas Love Field Airport after more than $100,000 was found in a passenger’s luggage.
On December 2 the canine — named ‘Ballentine’ — alerted on an individual checked suitcase. It turns out the bag, that belonged to 25-year-old woman from Chicago who was on a layover at the airport, contained blankets and two large bubble envelopes filled with $106,829 in cash.
► Show Spoiler
The woman who owned the bag was not arrested, but the money was seized and police say it will be subject to the civil asset forfeiture process.
K-9 Ballentine is part of the Dallas Love Field Interdiction squad, which is a unit of the Dallas Police Department’s narcotics division.
raison de arizona wrote: ↑Tue Dec 07, 2021 2:37 pm
This is totally within the law, the money doesn't have to be illegal. Important reminder kids, you can't take more than $10k in cash on a plane or it will get legally confiscated, regardless of the source.
More Than $100K Seized After K-9 Officer At Dallas Love Field Airport Sniffs Out Bag
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — High praise for a K-9 officer at Dallas Love Field Airport after more than $100,000 was found in a passenger’s luggage.
On December 2 the canine — named ‘Ballentine’ — alerted on an individual checked suitcase. It turns out the bag, that belonged to 25-year-old woman from Chicago who was on a layover at the airport, contained blankets and two large bubble envelopes filled with $106,829 in cash.
► Show Spoiler
The woman who owned the bag was not arrested, but the money was seized and police say it will be subject to the civil asset forfeiture process.
K-9 Ballentine is part of the Dallas Love Field Interdiction squad, which is a unit of the Dallas Police Department’s narcotics division.
Ballentine just funded the entire Dallas K-9 unit for the next year.
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 4:36 pm
by Dave from down under
Travellers can carry an unlimited amount of money into and out of Australia. However you must declare cash in Australian and foreign currency if the combined value is A$10,000 or more, and you must declare non-cash forms of money when asked by an Australian Border Force or police officer.
Who takes more, cops or robbers?
It would be interesting to get updated numbers on this.
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 6:12 am
by keith
Dave from down under wrote: ↑Tue Dec 07, 2021 4:36 pm
Travellers can carry an unlimited amount of money into and out of Australia. However you must declare cash in Australian and foreign currency if the combined value is A$10,000 or more, and you must declare non-cash forms of money when asked by an Australian Border Force or police officer.
Dave from down under wrote: ↑Tue Dec 07, 2021 4:36 pm
Travellers can carry an unlimited amount of money into and out of Australia. However you must declare cash in Australian and foreign currency if the combined value is A$10,000 or more, and you must declare non-cash forms of money when asked by an Australian Border Force or police officer.
Whadda bout bitcoin stored on your phone? Is that not non cash form of money?
I’d say not, just as your credit & debit cards allow access to cash..
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:09 am
by RTH10260
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 2:33 am
by RTH10260
not civil forfeiture but money disappears
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 10:55 am
by AndyinPA
There's something similar in Pennsylvania. About once a year or so, there's usually a story on the news to remind people of this. My mother got money back once. I don't remember the details, but it wasn't much money. They may have published something in the newspaper at one time because she never used a computer. And IIRC, it's more than money listed; it can also be property.
Re: Civil Forfeiture
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 11:41 am
by neonzx
AndyinPA wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 10:55 am
There's something similar in Pennsylvania. About once a year or so, there's usually a story on the news to remind people of this. My mother got money back once. I don't remember the details, but it wasn't much money. They may have published something in the newspaper at one time because she never used a computer. And IIRC, it's more than money listed; it can also be property.
I scored ~$700 back of stuff I left on the table years ago. I also helped family and close friends find assets they forgot about. There is some unclaimed funds website that lets you do a search and it's completely free. It was a little a bit trying because i had to prove my identity but I got my check in the end.
