SHERIFF'S OFFICE UTILIZES ASSET FORFEITURE FOR FUNDS

What if convicted drug dealers and racketeers were forced to pay for
necessary county expenses that would benefit all citizens, especially
during tough economic times?

Tight governmental budgets, compounded by a struggling economy, often
call for county departments to do one of two things -- cut line items
or find the cash to fund necessities. Through the federal Asset
Forfeiture Program, the Sampson County Sheriff's Office has
consistently tried to do the latter, simply by busting criminals.

"We've been fortunate to get a lot (of money)," said Sampson County
Sheriff Jimmy Thornton. "I don't mean hundreds of thousands of
dollars every couple months, but we've been very fortunate."

The asset forfeiture program, which operates under the U.S.
Department of Justice, compensates law enforcement agencies that
participate in criminal investigations where any number of items, be
it cash, vehicles, weapons, etc., were seized.

Thornton said that, from roughly September 2004 up through the end of
January 2009, the Sheriff's Office has actually received $453,549
from the federal government by way of seized criminal assets, a large
chunk of which came during 2008 following the close of several large,
long-running cases.

On top of that, there is another $397,131 that the Sheriff's Office
has been projected to receive "if everything works out," Thornton
pointed out this week. The projected numbers are from cases that date
back to 2006 and extend into the beginning of this year. Other
necessary documents have been filled out and turned into the feds on
other recent cases in hopes of getting similar projections back.

Both individuals and their assets are now the targets of criminal
investigations. And, it can be a waiting game for both cases.

Alleged offenders, during a hearing process separate from a trial,
are given the opportunity to prove the assets were not used in an
illegal operation. If that proof is not substantiated, investigating
agencies can eventually see a large chunk of the value of the seized
assets, or the assets themselves, come back their way.

"The assets get their own trial," noted Chief Deputy John Conerly.

Thornton said the federal government takes 20 percent off the top and
an investigating agency, if it was the sole investigator in a case,
can receive up to the remaining 80 percent.

The percentage of seized assets' value any agency gets back is
dependent on several factors, including whether it was a joint
operation with other departments, how many personnel were assigned on
the case and how much time was spent in the investigation. The
federal government weighs those variables and designates a certain
percentage to each department that worked the case.

"They assess the asset value and (seized asset money received back)
varies percentage-wise from 5 percent to 80 percent," said Thornton.
"Once individuals are adjudicated or (the feds) feel no problem in
releasing the money, they direct deposit allotment into our account."

It might be $10,000 this month and $15,000 the next, sheriff's officials said.

During a 12-month span from late-September 2007 to September 2008,
$383,459 in seized assets was used to purchase vehicles, uniforms,
bulletproof vests, computers and department supplies, as well as pay
for compensation times and overtime salaries.

Thornton anticipates receiving about that same amount --the
federally-projected amount of $397,131 -- in the future. However, it
is never known when the cases may be closed.

Seizing assets can cripple an otherwise-thriving criminal enterprise,
officials said.

Speaking to the over 150 federal, state and local law enforcement
officials at an Asset Forfeiture and Financial Investigation Training
Conference in Hickory last week, U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding,
who presides over the eastern district including Sampson, urged those
in attendance to seize assets and leave criminals nothing to come back to.

"The law enforcement world has changed," Holding stated. "We can't
lock all the criminals up, and the ones we do lock up, we can't keep
locked up forever. We can, however, strip them of their criminal
infrastructure, making it very difficult for them to easily return to
their illegal businesses."

Officials at the conference said it has become critical that federal,
state and local law enforcement agencies work together in order to
not only take a criminal off the street, but to possibly see a
tangible reward for their department -- a reward that might help Joe Taxpayer.

Thornton said $474,140 in seized asset money has been spent since
2003, on a number of patrol and unmarked vehicles, overtime pay,
equipment, computers, supplies and other needed expenditures. The
money does not supplant the budget, but allows expenses to be funded
without requests that might dig into citizens' pockets.

The $474,140 amount, the sheriff said, "equates to one and a half
cent on the tax rate."

"That's one and a half cent of tax dollars the county taxpayer didn't
have to foot the bill for, that we didn't have to ask the
commissioners for in the budget," Thornton implored. "We'll continue
to use these monies to offset any request, particularly during this
economic downturn, to provide good law enforcement around the county."

"The forfeiture laws are a powerful weapon in law enforcement's
arsenal," stated Anna Mills Wagoner, U.S. Attorney for the Middle
District of North Carolina. "In these troubled economic times, it is
more important than ever that we use forfeiture to disrupt and
dismantle criminal activity and enterprise, to divest criminals of
the proceeds of their unlawful activity, and to recover assets for
the victims of financial crimes."

Statewide last year, joint law enforcement efforts yielded
forfeitures of $32.5 million dollars, with over half of that going
back to more than 170 state and local law enforcement agencies,
according to statistics provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"Go deep," Holding urged officials at last week's conference. "Don't
leave assets on the table. Identify, seize and forfeit all the
instrumentalities and proceeds of crime. Take the profit out of crime."

Thornton echoed Holding's sentiments.

"It's a good program, I just hope they keep it going," stated
Thornton. "It's the thugs, the criminals helping law enforcement financially."