$500,000 SEIZED IN RP DRUG BUST GOES TO LOCAL, STATE AGENCIES

Largest Forfeiture Ever In Sonoma County Courts A Bonanza For Cities'
Police, Narcotics Task Force

Half a million dollars seized in a Rohnert Park drug bust will soon be
divided among law enforcement and state agencies as part of the largest
asset forfeiture case ever to go through Sonoma County courts.

The money comes from $563,812 in cash that turned up in a modest $57.95 per
night motel room rented in 1999 by a federal fugitive under a false name.

Bruce Michael Young, who had more than two pounds of marijuana in the motel
room along with the cash, was sentenced to three years in prison for
possession of marijuana with intent to sell. He also agreed to relinquish
$500,000 of the money and avoid an asset forfeiture trial in which
authorities would have had to prove the money came from illegal means.

Of the $500,000, local police agencies involved will receive amounts
ranging from $25,000 to $150,000.

Rohnert Park police officers were called to the Good Nite Inn on Oct. 21,
1999, on a report of a woman screaming and possible domestic violence. When
they investigated, Officers Gino Fahey and Norm Anderson said they detected
the strong smell of marijuana in Young's room, where he was staying with
his girlfriend.

That led to the discovery of the pot and a large amount of cash in
denominations of hundreds, fifties and twenties.

Young, 45, who gave police the alias Randall Forde, had been wanted in
Oregon for three years as a federal fugitive on a charge of conspiracy to
manufacture LSD.

Sonoma County Prosecutor Bud McMahon said Monday the $500,000 authorities
will get "is the largest we've had in Sonoma County."

"It's large by any standards," McMahon said, adding that kind of cash is
associated with federal cases, or drug cases in bigger counties such as Los
Angeles and San Diego.

The money will be divided among members of the Sonoma County Narcotics Task
Force and other agencies. About a quarter of it, $120,000, will go into the
state's general fund, while some can be used for drug and gang prevention
programs.

The Sonoma County District Attorney's office will receive 10 percent of the
money, or $50,000, for its general fund.

Five agencies that are part of the county narcotics task force will split
approximately $275,000, based on the number of people they contribute to
the task force.

The Sheriff's Department will get most of that -- $150,000 -- followed by
Santa Rosa police with $50,000. Petaluma police and the county probation
department will each get $25,000, the same amount that Rohnert Park will
get, even though its officers came across the money.

McMahon said it took a while for the case to go to trial, but eventually
Young was found guilty by Judge Raima Ballinger of the marijuana charge and
a weapons violation in connection with two semiautomatic pistols found in
the motel room.

His girlfriend, Traci Michele "Butterfly" O'Rear, 24, whom he later married
in jail, entered a no contest plea to misdemeanor marijuana possession.

The prosecutor said there was some difficulty establishing a connection
between the marijuana and the money, part of the nexus to justify the asset
forfeiture. But this month, Young agreed to give up half a million dollars
and keep about $63,000 so he could pay his San Francisco attorneys.

McMahon said it wasn't certain exactly where the large amount of cash came
from. There was some indication in Young's court file, however, that he was
growing marijuana in Humboldt County.

McMahon said that according to an informant, Young, who studied chemistry
before dropping out of college in Missouri, planned to use the money to buy
precursors for manufacturing LSD.

Young told a probation officer that his steadiest employment, which ended
in 1992, was as a research and development chemist working in Eugene, Ore.

Young declined to discuss the particulars of his case on the advice of his
attorney, but told a probation officer he has pretty much changed his life
while in jail, getting religion and counseling others about drug abuse.

"My life has been pretty wrecked since 1997, as a fugitive, emotionally and
intellectually," he said. "I'll be anxious to get on with my life. I know I
can contribute something."

Young's father, who identified himself as a police officer for 40 years and
a police chief in the St. Louis, Mo., area for 20 years, wrote a letter
saying he believed his son has turned his life around since his arrest.

McMahon said the defendant still faces the possibility of a lengthy stay in
prison -- approximately 20 years -- in connection with the charges in Oregon.