NORTH PORT POLICE'S SEIZURE ILLEGAL, COURT SAYS

A three-judge panel in the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland
ruled that the police had no probable cause to believe that the cash,
packaged in $1,000 bundles, was used for illicit purposes.

The court ruled on an appeal filed by the couple's attorney, Gerald A.
Perez of Tampa, on Sept. 1.

"The court said that the officers need something more than just a
hunch to make seizures," Perez said. "From what I've seen in North
Port's standard operating procedures, they patrol I-75 to seek out
people's assets for the department.

"It is not a good idea to let them keep the fruits of what they
seize," he said.

The department patrols I-75 up to 16 hours a week. State forfeiture
laws allow police to seize money and property that they believe is
tied to criminal activities.

Dale Goodpasture, North Port police captain and spokesman, would not
comment on the case Wednesday.

North Port police stopped Marlo and Shaerika Albury on March 2, 1999,
for going 86 mph in a 70-mph zone on I-75 on their way to Tampa from
Miami.

Officers found the $55,045 in a shoe box tucked under several sheets
in the back seat. Marlo Albury, his wife and another passenger told
different stories about how much money they had and what they planned
to do with it, the police said.

Perez had asked Circuit Court Judge James Parker to delay his final
ruling on whether the police could keep the money until the appellate
court made its ruling on the legality of the seizure. But Parker ruled
March 6 that the police could keep the money.

While the appellate court acknowledged that the couple made
conflicting statements about where the money came from, ultimately,
the judges said, "there was nothing in those contradictions to
indicate that the money was being used in violation of the Florida
Contraband Act."

If the couple had owned the car they were driving, the police could
have seized it, too, but it was rented.

Marlo Albury, 26, admitted during an investigation by the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration that he had been involved in the drug
business for at least four months, according to an affidavit filed in
July with the U.S. District Court.

Albury also told DEA agents that the money seized by North Port police
and another $46,050 seized by DEA agents last March at Miami
International Airport would have been used to buy cocaine in Miami,
the affidavit said.

Albury has a criminal record that includes convictions for the sale or
purchase of cocaine and two counts of constructive possession in
Hillsborough County.

Perez filed a motion last month to withdraw from the case, according
to court records. The court has not ruled on his request.

The appellate court's ruling sends the case back to circuit court,
where Perez said he expects the judge to return the money to his clients.

North Port police will have 30 days to appeal that ruling. They can
also appeal Tuesday's ruling to the State Supreme Court.

Staff writer Kelly Cramer may be reached at 486-3052 or
kelly.cramer@herald-trib.com.

Posted by: Allan Wilkinson