If you're wondering what an asset forfeiture specialist does,
here\'s an example .
Russell Caswell and his family have owned and operated the $57 a night Motel Caswell since Russell Caswell's grandfather built it back in 1955. Between 1994 and 2008 there has been one heroin overdose and 14 other drug "incidents" at the motel -
out of about 200,000 room rentals during that period.
...Caswell, who has been running the motel since 1983, says he has no way of knowing what his customers are doing behind closed doors. He has always cooperated with the police, calling them to report suspicious activity and offering them free rooms for surveillance and sting operations....
And what did he get for this cooperation?
...In 2009 he got his reward: a forfeiture notice. Police had never suggested additional steps he could take to discourage crime or warned him that the motel—which supports him, his mother, his wife, their son, their daughter-in-law, and their granddaughter—could be at risk.
This cruel surprise was engineered by Vincent Kelley, a forfeiture specialist at the Drug Enforcement Administration who said he read about the Motel Caswell in a news report and found that the property, which the Caswells own free and clear, had an assessed value of $1.3 million. So Kelley approached the Tewksbury Police Department with an "equitable sharing" deal: The feds would seize the property and sell it, and the cops would get up to 80 percent of the proceeds....
Yep, asset forfeiture specialist
Vincent Kelley is good at his job. Wanna be like him?
Onward and upward,
airforce
