10/22/2014
True or not, you ain't gettin' it back!
Selling marijuana has cost a Pennsylvania man his modified Corvette race car worth at least $100,000 and 10 other vehicles, including two hot rods, that law enforcement authorities claim he bought with drug money.
Commonwealth Court backed the drug-related forfeiture of Neil Neidig's stable of cars, trucks and motorcycles in a recent ruling.
The Pennsylvania Judicial Center
The seizures stemmed from a June 2011 incident where a state trooper stopped Neidig, 54, of Northumberland, for speeding in Monroe County. A bucket packed with 13 pounds of marijuana was found in Neidig's Ford Fusion, police said.
The state attorney general's office then acted to seize Neidig's other vehicles, including the Corvette, a street rod, a Ford "Police Paddy Wagon", three other sports cars, a pickup truck, a motorcycle and a trailer, on grounds that they were bought with cash he made by selling pot.
A Northumberland County judge approved those forfeitures, while a Monroe County judge permitted the forfeiture of the Fusion and $13,000 in cash that police said was found in it during the speeding stop.
Commonwealth Court took up the case on an appeal by Neidig, who is serving a state prison term on drug convictions.
Neidig argued that authorities didn't show he had not bought the vehicles with money he earned legitimately. He claimed he had other sources of income, including disability and child support payments and an inheritance from his mother, that he used for the purchases.
In the state court's ruling, Senior Judge Rochelle S. Friedman found that authorities had proven Neidig bought the vehicles with income from his crimes.
The judge cited testimony from Neidig's daughter that her father told her "they would pay their bills with drug money" and that he had used his illicit profits to buy vehicles.
An investigator also pointed to evidence that Neidig stored marijuana at the same place he kept his vehicles, Friedman noted. She added that prosecutors were able to show Neidig had not held a legitimate paying job for years before his arrest.
source
True or not, you ain't gettin' it back!
Selling marijuana has cost a Pennsylvania man his modified Corvette race car worth at least $100,000 and 10 other vehicles, including two hot rods, that law enforcement authorities claim he bought with drug money.
Commonwealth Court backed the drug-related forfeiture of Neil Neidig's stable of cars, trucks and motorcycles in a recent ruling.
The Pennsylvania Judicial Center The state attorney general's office then acted to seize Neidig's other vehicles, including the Corvette, a street rod, a Ford "Police Paddy Wagon", three other sports cars, a pickup truck, a motorcycle and a trailer, on grounds that they were bought with cash he made by selling pot.
A Northumberland County judge approved those forfeitures, while a Monroe County judge permitted the forfeiture of the Fusion and $13,000 in cash that police said was found in it during the speeding stop.
Commonwealth Court took up the case on an appeal by Neidig, who is serving a state prison term on drug convictions.
Neidig argued that authorities didn't show he had not bought the vehicles with money he earned legitimately. He claimed he had other sources of income, including disability and child support payments and an inheritance from his mother, that he used for the purchases.
In the state court's ruling, Senior Judge Rochelle S. Friedman found that authorities had proven Neidig bought the vehicles with income from his crimes.
The judge cited testimony from Neidig's daughter that her father told her "they would pay their bills with drug money" and that he had used his illicit profits to buy vehicles.
An investigator also pointed to evidence that Neidig stored marijuana at the same place he kept his vehicles, Friedman noted. She added that prosecutors were able to show Neidig had not held a legitimate paying job for years before his arrest.
source
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