PROSECUTOR TO GET DEAD MAN'S MONEY

(AP) -- The estate of a man who committed suicide in jail while being
held on drug charges has been ordered to pay $750,000 to the Nassau
County district attorney's office.

The ruling, part of a settlement in a civil forfeiture case, was the
first in the state in which a prosecutor sought assets from a dead
person, Newsday reported Tuesday.

State law allows prosecutors to seize money from convicted felons if
it can be established that the money was obtained illegally, said
Rick Henshaw, spokesman for District Attorney Denis Dillon.

Robert Vorbeck, 38, was arrested July 2, 1999, for allegedly selling
cocaine to undercover officers, and committed suicide in his county
jail cell 11 days later.

He had faced life in prison if convicted of felony drug charges.

The attorney for his estate, Steven Kessler, said Vorbeck's parents
wanted to settle.

``They just wanted to put this behind them, move on and grieve,'' Kessler said.