tuesday, november 1, 1999
used car was real steal, but who gets the loot?
Knight Ridder Newspapers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - At $5,400, the 1995 shiny blue Volkswagen Golf seemed to be a steal. At least that's what Helen Chappell and her son thought when they bought it last spring from the federal government.
But two months later the engine quit. Suspecting a fuel problem, a mechanic At a Kansas City garage checked the gas found $82,000 in more tank where he plastic
Chappells thought they had won lottery, but are now involved in a court fight with the government to get the money back.,
U.S., Attorney Stephen Hill has filed a complaint in federal court, saying the money should go to the U.S. Justice Department because the car and cash may have been used in - illegal 'drug activity three years ago.
Jeffrey Chappell, Helen Chappell's son, maintains they should get the money because they bought the car "as is.,,
"You always read about stuff the government does, but I was in disbelie that they would do this," said Jeffrey Chappell, of Kansas City. "The forfeiture laws are there for trying to get the money out of the hands of drug,dealers and stuff like that. They know darn good and well ... the money is not in the hands of drug dealers."
The Volkswagen was stopped in February 1996 by the Missouri Highway Patrol for speeding. During a search, troopers found cash in baggies $24,000. The patrol handed over that money and the car to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
The men in the car were not arrested, and they left after receiving a receipt for the money and the car. They were never charged with a crime, which is common in these types of cases, law enforcement officials say.
The government declared the Volkswagen abandoned two years later. The General Services. Administration took bids, and Helen Chappell got an almost new car, which had been driven only 3,600 miles, for a little over $5,000.
Two months later, the car, broke down. When a mechanic the garage called the: DEA Special Agent Melton told him about the money Chappell said, and explained
'lined that the cash should be his free and clear.
" 'As the legal owner of that car, that be your money,"' Chappell said Melton told him. "'You bought the car as is.' He said, 'That's our mistake, and we missed it.'"
But Chris, Whitley, U.S. Attorney Hill's spokesman, said law enforcement agents don't have the authority to give that type of advice. "Whether he is right or wrong ... the courts will have to take care of those matters," Whitley said.
Jeffrey Chappell said he hurried to the garage, but the DEA agent was already gone. "They had already snatched the money by the time I got there," he said.
Federal law requires that the Chappells prove that they are the owners of the money or that the money "was not derived from any kind of criminal activity, or both," Whitley said. Then it is up to a judge to decide.
That requirement upsets Jeffrey Chappell.
"This country was not founded on the government being able to seize your property and requiring you to prove that you are innocent," Chappell said.
the webmaster notes: the government pigs seized a car with $24,000 in it and because the people in it could not prove they were not criminals the government stole the car.
next the government sold the car it stole to some people named chappell. when the people found more money in the car the government decided it had to shake down these people and rob them too.
fuck the american constition. it exists on paper but the thugs who run our government ignore it.