ATTORNEYS SEEK ASSET FORFEITURE

Lawsuit Claims Men Are Part Of Drug Ring

U.S. attorneys are going after the local members of what they describe as a
Texas-based drug ring by asking a court to order them to forfeit more than
$500,000 in cash and a sizable amount of property and vehicles, according
to documents filed Wednesday in federal court.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Herbert Villa states in the court documents that
the leader of the ring, Richard Heckman, along with another member, Edward
Durica, have no way to explain how they own the assets because they have no
legitimate source of income.

Records list Bristolville addresses for Heckman and Durica. A message left
on Durica's answering machine seeking comment was not immediately returned
Wednesday evening. No listing was available for Heckman, whose address was
listed only as a Bristolville Post Office box.

According to the court documents, the government is after Durica's
properties in Trumbull County. Authorities are seeking seizure of a piece
of property at 2298 Howland-Wilson Road in Bazetta; 1447 Hamilton St. S.W.
and 2888 Van Wye St. in Warren; 2440 Niles-Cortland Road in Cortland; 3034
Housel-Craft Road in Bristolville; and a piece of property on
Howland-Wilson Road in Cortland.

Also included in the list submitted to the court for Heckman's properties
were three pieces of property in Windham, two units in a condominium in
Ravenna, a piece of property at 2995 Housel-Craft Road in Bristolville, as
well as single pieces of property in Garrettsville and Woodsfield.

Among the vehicles on Durica's list are a 1973 Mercedes 290Z, a 12- foot
aluminum boat and a 1997 and 1999 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.
Prosecutors are seeking three motorcycles, two four-wheel all terrain
vehicles, a snowmobile, two riding mowers, a dump truck, a front-end loader
and a trailer from Heckman.

The government also is looking to seize $519,000 in cash from Heckman,
according to the papers.

Records show that no federal criminal charges have been filed against
either of the men.

Villa, reached at his Cleveland office Wednesday afternoon, said the papers
he filed in court are a civil complaint and are separate from any kind of
criminal complaint. He said federal law allows for the seizure of property
if it can be proven it was purchased with money that was gained by selling
drugs.

According to the papers, the Geauga County Drug Task Force identified
Heckman as the leader of a ring that has brought thousands of pounds of
marijuana from Texas into Ohio to be sold. A truck driver admitted to
authorities earlier this year that he transported a large shipment of
marijuana from Texas to Heckman in Ohio and that Heckman paid him to
transport the drug.

About the same time officials in Geauga County learned of Heckman's
organization, they also learned that Durica was also a part of it. Court
papers said Durica received large amounts of marijuana from Heckman and
paid large amounts of cash to the organization, then resold the marijuana
in Ohio.