Newsclipping summary:

FEAR-List Bulletin posted 9/4/95
 

by John Barna, Staff Writer Unknown date: Approx. August 15, 1995
Today's Sunbeam
93 Fifth Street
Salem, NJ 08079
FAX: 609/845-3139

Today's Sunbeam reports that in Salem, NJ, a Superior Court judge has ordered the return of $1.9 million in cash seized two years ago from a New York man, after granting summary judgment on behalf of Yury D. Urrea, 33, of Jackson Heights, N.Y., and denying the state's motion to strike Urrea's claims.

Urrea was stopped for a speeding violation on the New Jersey Turnpike, and asked to consent to a search of the pickup truck he was driving - a vehicle that belonged to someone else. The police found the cash in a compartment under the bed. A police drug-sniffing dog reacted positively, the cops said, and they seized the cash. The Salem County Prosecutor's Office filed a forfeiture action claiming the money was "the proceeds of the commission of an illegal act."

According to the Sunbeam, "Urrea had been charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance. The criminal charges were dropped in April 1994, five days after Urrea filed a motion to have his legal fees paid for out of the cash that had been seized."

Urrea's attorney, H. Todd Hess of Weehawkin, admits the truck had a compartment, although he denied it was "hidden." He also claims the concaine residue was found on an engine vacuum filter and not on the cash. His client admitted all the claims in the government's complaint, and said so what does that prove? The judge apparently agreed.

Hess also raised an undue delay defense, arguing that "for over a year 'no interrogatories have been served, no depositions have been noticed, no documents have been demanded, no motions have been filed, no hearings have been provided.' Incredibly the attorney general asserts that the claimant created the delay issue,' . . . Yet, the attorney general admitted in their application for an adjournment [continuance] that the delay in this case was caused by their inattention due to a heavy workload.'"

Urrea was not in court when Bowen issued his ruling. Hess declined to say what his client was doing with the money.

Hess said he was not sure whether the money would be returned immediately, or after the government's appeal. "If the cash does make it back to Urrea, apparently it will be somewhat less than the $1.914 million seized in July 1993 since the Internal Revenue Service has filed a claim," the article reported.

When the cash was seized, New Jersey had no specific forfeiture law dealing with seizures of large amounts of cash, so the police seized it under New Jersey's general forfeiture statute allowing forfeiture of "the proceeds of illegal activity." New Jersey has since passed a money laundering forfeiture law.