WOMAN KEEPS DRUG CASH, COURT RULES

$82,000 Is Found In Car Bought At Federal Auction

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A 77-year-old woman -- not the federal government --
can keep $82,000 found in her car's gas tank.

In a case that captured national attention, a federal judge ruled last week
that Helen Chappell of Kansas City is the rightful owner of the cash, which
federal agents seized last year after a mechanic found it in her 1995
Volkswagen Golf.

"It's not often that a 77-year-old woman can beat one of the most powerful
adversaries in the world," said Paul Katz, the attorney who sued the
government for Chappell and her son to get the money back.

The car had been part of a drug investigation before Helen and Jeffrey
Chappell bought it "as is" at a federal government auction last year. But
it quickly developed a fuel problem, and a mechanic found the cash floating
in bundles in the tank.

An agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized the money but
told the Chappells that it should be returned to them. But a short time
later the Chappells received notice that the federal government planned to
forfeit the money, which meant it would keep the cash.

U.S. Attorney Stephen L. Hill Jr.'s office argued in the case that the
federal government owned the cash before it was found, giving it superior
rights to the money, and also that the money was profits from illegal drug
trafficking, so it belongs to the government.

In last week's ruling, U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey said the
government could have kept the money -- if it had found the cash before
selling the car. And it should have, she said.

The gas gauge was malfunctioning, she said, always reading empty -- but
still the government did not check the tank.

Even movies filmed decades ago should have tipped off agents, she said.

"As early as the 1970s when 'Easy Rider' was aired, the government was on
notice that drug dealers use gas tanks to hide their contraband," Laughrey
wrote.

The Chappells were ecstatic Friday but at the same time realized the
federal government had 10 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling.

"I kept thinking it would happen and kept praying it would," said Helen
Chappell, a retired employee of the Missouri Restaurant Association. "Jeff
kept saying, 'Keep praying, Mom.' "

Chris Whitley, spokesman for Hill, said he had no comment at this point.

"We are currently reviewing what action, if any, would be appropriate by us
right now," Whitley said.

Jeffrey Chappell, 36, a real estate rehabilitator, said in an interview
that the judge's decision was more important than just getting the money
back. He pointed out that many innocent people have had property forfeited.

"I could always use some money, but the more I got into this the more it
just made me so angry that it was just so unfair," Chappell said. "As I
read more and more about innocent victims who have lost the money they've
earned, it drives me nuts."