Judge: BCSO evaded law on cash seizures

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office tried to get around state law over seized cash by using more lenient federal forfeiture procedures, which made it easier for the department to keep millions of dollars in seized assets, a judge has ruled.

The Albuquerque Journal reports in a copyright story Wednesday that state District Judge Nan Nash ruled last week that the department failed to follow the New Mexico Forfeiture Act, which requires seized money to be deposited in an interest-bearing account with the court clerk within 30 days of its seizure.

Nash ordered the office to stop transferring seized cash to the federal government without following state procedures.

The department had transferred seized cash to the feds - eventually receiving back 80 percent of it - or had held it in an "evidence" account, even though it wasn't always used as evidence.

The judge's ruling came in a 2006 lawsuit challenging cash forfeitures by the department and former Sheriff Darren White.

White said he hadn't seen the ruling but expected to meet soon with county attorneys to discuss an appeal.

Attorney Joseph Kennedy, whose firm filed the class action lawsuit, said the ruling was a victory and that "even sheriffs have to follow the law."

The money was taken from people during traffic stops, typically on Interstate 40. In many cases, criminal charges were never filed but individuals never got the money back.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of people whose money was never deposited with the clerk. The judge's ruling does not allow individual class members to receive interest on the amount held by the county.

Experts will offer calculations at a Sept. 23 hearing about how much the county must return to class members.

Kennedy estimated the number of people in the class action at 400 to 500, and said most seizures were for less than $10,000.

The sheriff's department, in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, "adopted a system to bypass the more stringent requirements of the New Mexico Forfeiture Act in favor of the more lenient requirements of federal forfeiture act. BCSO chose to follow federal law ... to avoid the higher burdens placed on them under the New Mexico Forfeiture Act," the judge wrote.

Sheriff's narcotics officers who made the seizures were part of an interagency task force working with federal and other local law enforcement agencies on drug control, but Nash found they were not federal agents or officers.

White testified he believed he had the option of using either state or federal law to forfeit money or property. He contended officers were not required to follow state law and were free to transfer the money to federal officials using federal forfeiture law.

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Information from: Albuquerque Journal