HIS BAIL SEIZED, COKE DEFENDANT IS STILL IN JAIL

11 Cashier's Checks Totaling $100,000 Taken Under Narcotics Claim

Gerardo Hernandez's friends and family can't understand what's wrong with
the $100,000 they say they scraped together to bail him out of the
Milwaukee County Jail.

More than a month has passed since a brother brought 11 cashier's checks
totaling $100,000 to the Sheriff's Department to pay for Hernandez's
release from the lockup, where he is being held on a cocaine trafficking
charge.

"That money came from the whole family," said his aunt, Irma Hernandez.
"There were about 25 people who put in money."

But before the checks could be credited to Hernandez's bail account, a
state narcotics agent familiar with the case overheard the transaction as
he passed by, intervened and scooped up the checks under the theory that
the money was derived from drug dealing, according to Circuit Court records.

Hernandez's family disputes the allegation and has since provided a list of
all the donors, complete with their addresses and places of employment.

The swift seizure and lack of explanation from authorities has puzzled
Hernandez's relatives, but there is nothing they can do about it -- for now.

And almost two more months might pass before Hernandez, his attorney and
his family can contest the seizure in a courtroom.

Under federal law -- and it is the federal government that now has custody
of the $100,000 -- up to 90 days can pass between such a seizure and when
authorities have to officially notify Hernandez that they have his money,
and tell him what he must do to get it back.

The case against Hernandez, 24, of Chicago, also involves another alleged
drug dealer, Ramon Bonilla of Milwaukee.

Criminal complaints against the two men, along with court records, give the
following account:

On Oct. 20, an undercover state narcotics investigator and an informant met
Bonilla, 23, at a west side filling station where they consummated a
$23,500 kilogram cocaine deal. When the deal was done, Bonilla was arrested.

He promptly cooperated with investigators and implicated Hernandez as his
supplier. State investigators drove Bonilla to Chicago, and he directed
them to a west side home, where they arrested Hernandez.

Bonilla was subsequently charged with delivery of cocaine, and Hernandez
was charged with conspiracy to deliver cocaine. On Nov. 14, Hernandez's
brother came to the Criminal Justice Facility with the 11 cashier's checks
from eight different Chicago-area banks. But before the money was posted as
bail, the lead investigator on Hernandez's case, in the building for a
court hearing, intervened and seized the checks.

"No receipt was given," Hernandez's latest attorney, Alan D. Eisenberg
complained. "There's been no accounting whatsoever."

Gary Streeter, legal technician for the Milwaukee office of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration, explained that law enforcement officers can
seize money if there is probable cause that it was derived from drug dealing.

That initial probable cause finding can come after only a 20- to 40-minute
interview, he said, so the seizure of Hernandez's money could have been
done quickly. Law enforcement officials take into consideration such things
as the amount of money involved, the story behind it and the history of the
people involved.

If agents seize the money, Streeter said, "unlike criminal trials, the
money is considered guilty until proven innocent."

Top Milwaukee DEA agent Jack Riley concurred.

"The burden on a civil seizure is on the people," he said. "They're going
to have to prove to us the source of that money." If the seizure is done by
a local law enforcement agency, it has 30 days to send a "seizure packet"
- -- generally reports regarding the events surrounding the seizure -- to DEA
for review, Streeter said. If DEA lawyers determine the seizure was "good,"
the agency has 60 days to begin notification of people who might have a
claim to some or all of it.

For example, in the Hernandez case, the agency likely would send letters to
the people who supposedly contributed to the bail fund notifying them of
the seizure and telling them how to file their claim.

The agency also publishes seizure notifications each Wednesday in USA
Today. Each seizure notice is published for three consecutive weeks.

If no claim is filed within 20 days of the first USA Today publication of
the seizure, the money is forfeited. If even a single claim is filed, the
issue is turned over to the U.S. attorney's office and can be pursued as a
civil lawsuit in federal court.

Once a claim is filed, Streeter said, the burden of proof shifts to the
government.

The Milwaukee DEA office processes 700 to 800 forfeitures per year,
Streeter said. About 70% to 75% involve just $1,000 to $2,000.

However, "there's a lot of large ones, too," he said.

Local law enforcement agencies turn to the DEA to handle their seizures of
cash related to drug cases because they get 80% of the money back (the DEA
keeps 20%). If the local agencies do not go through a federal agency, all
of the money goes to a state tax relief fund, Streeter said. Streeter said
the agency is careful to caution local law enforcement to make "good
seizures" and not to abuse their seizure power.

Earlier this month, about 20 of Hernandez's relatives drove from Chicago to
Milwaukee hoping that the judge presiding over the cocaine case in Circuit
Court would consider Eisenberg's motion that Hernandez be released because
the $100,000 was posted. But a hearing was postponed until today.

In the meantime, Hernandez has remained in the County Jail as if no money
had been posted.

Checked-by: Richard Lake