United States of America v. 1998 Lexus LS400 VIN JT8BH28F7W0125168 et al

Filing 8

DEFAULT JUDGMENT OF FORFEITURE in favor of United States of America against Lexus LS400, 1998, Lincoln LS, 2000. Signed by District Judge Martin Reidinger on 11/11/10. (ejb)

United States of America v. Lexus LS400, 1998 et al

Doc. 8

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES F O R THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA ASHEVILLE DIVISION C IV IL CASE NO. 1:10cv97

U N IT E D STATES OF AMERICA, P l a i n t if f , vs . 1 9 9 8 LEXUS LS400, V IN . JT8BH28F7W0125168, and 2 0 0 0 LINCOLN LS, V IN . 1LNHM87A9YY758853, D e fe n d a n ts .

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D E F AU L T JUDGMENT OF FORFEITURE

TH IS MATTER is before the Court on the Plaintiff's Motion for Judgment b y Default, Entry of Judgment, and Final Order of Forfeiture [Doc.7].

P R O C E D U R AL AND FACTUAL HISTORY T h e Plaintiff initiated this civil in rem action for forfeiture pursuant to 21 U .S .C . §881 on May 5, 2010. [Doc. 1]. In support of the Complaint, the P la in tiff filed the verification of Officer Cecilia Rossell of the Henderson C o u n ty Sheriff's Department. [Id., at 8]. On October 13, 2009, members of the H e n d e rs o n County Sheriff's Department executed a search warrant at a

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re s id e n c e located at 214 Corn Mountain Road, Hendersonville, North C a ro lin a . [Id., at 3]. That residence was occupied by Michael David Jones at t h e time. [Id.]. Both of the Defendant vehicles were at the Corn Mountain p ro p e rty during the execution of the warrant. [Id.]. Each of the vehicles was re g is te re d to Karen Sanders Jones. [Id.]. T h e officers discovered four $20.00 and two $50.00 bills in United S ta te s currency inside the Lincoln. [Id.]. The serial numbers on these bills c o rre s p o n d e d with those on currency given by a confidential informant to M ic h a e l Jones in exchange for marijuana. [Id.]. An additional sum of currency wa s also found inside the Lincoln and the next day, a trained drug detection d o g gave a positive alert to a bag containing the currency. [Id.]. The officers were aware that in January 2009, a confidential informant m a d e a controlled purchase of marijuana from Michael Jones and that Jones h a d driven the Lexus to and from the location of that purchase. [Id., at 4]. D u rin g the October 13, 2009 search, the officers found a small amount of m a riju a n a inside the Lexus. [Id.]. On October 15, 2009, a trained drug

d e te c tio n dog gave a positive alert to the Lexus. [Id.]. K a re n Jones made a voluntary statement to law enforcement authorities b u t was unable to state when or where or from whom she had purchased the two vehicles at issue. [Id.].
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T h e re a fte r, the case was referred to the United States Attorney's office fo r judicial forfeiture proceedings. 19 U.S.C. §1608; 21 C.F.R. §1316.78. On M a y 24, 2009, the Government attempted to send notice to Michael Jones th a t this proceeding had been filed. [Doc. 5-1]. The notice was returned as u n d e live ra b le . [Id.]. On May 18, 2010, Michael Jones, in care of Roy Neill, E s q ., received notice that this proceeding had been filed as well as a copy of th e civil in rem Complaint. [Doc. 5-3]. The documents, sent to Jones in care o f the attorney, were accepted by counsel. On May 20, 2010, Karen Jones received notice that this proceeding had b e e n filed. [Doc. 5-2]. In addition, the United States Attorney served copies o f the civil in rem Complaint on Karen Jones. [Id.]. Notice of civil forfeiture was posted on an official government internet s ite , www.forfeiture.gov, for at least 30 consecutive days beginning on June 1 7 , 2010. [Doc. 4-1]. There were no claims or answers filed in this matter. On the Plaintiff's motion, the Clerk of Court entered default on S e p te m b e r 30, 2010 as to all persons and entities. [Doc. 6]. DISCUSSION N e ith e r Michael David Jones nor Karen Sanders Jones filed a claim or a n s we r in this civil forfeiture action as is required by Rule G(5)(a) & (b) of the S u p p le m e n ta l Rules for Admiralty or Maritime and Asset Forfeiture Claims.
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A s a result, each is in default. T h e Court therefore finds that the Plaintiff has established that no p o te n tia l claimant has timely filed a claim or otherwise answered and default ju d g m e n t is appropriate. JU DG M EN T IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the P la in tiff's Motion for Judgment by Default, Entry of Judgment, and Final Order o f Forfeiture [Doc.7] is hereby construed as a Motion for Default Judgment of F o rfe itu re and as so construed is hereby GRANTED and Default Judgment a g a in s t the Defendant 1998 Lexus LS400, Vin. JT8BH28F7W0125168 and th e Defendant 2000 Lincoln LS, Vin. 1LNHM87A9YY758853, is hereby E N TE R E D in favor of the United States of America.

Signed: November 11, 2010

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