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US NC: DEA Visit To Salesman Has Link To Roanoke
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1176/a09.html
Newshawk: chip
Votes: 1
Pubdate: Sun, 15 Aug 2004
Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
Copyright: 2004 Roanoke Times
Contact: karen.trout@roanoke.com
Website: http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/368
Author: Taft Wireback
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
DEA VISIT TO SALESMAN HAS LINK TO ROANOKE
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Last week, Greensboro car dealer Bill Kennedy started
out with an inventory chock-full of high-end used cars.
There were 23 of them on his West Wendover Avenue lot -- Mercedes sedans,
BMWs and Cadillacs -- a fleet worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. That
was before 9:05 a.m. Wednesday, when a platoon of federal agents and local
police arrived to cart off every last car.
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration apparently believes the cars are
tainted by drug-dealing money, although an agency spokesman declines to
comment.
Kennedy passionately denies it.
"I've lived all my life in Greensboro. I never had anything more than a
speeding ticket, and I'm being treated like a criminal," he said. "It's
like a bad dream. It doesn't make any sense."
The raid left Kennedy with an empty lot with not a single car to sell. It
also left him with an office stripped of filing cabinets and business
materials the agents took with them.
"They took all my [car] titles, all my cars, all of my paperwork," Kennedy
said.
He declined to discuss any specifics of his situation on the advice of his
lawyers. But he said he plans to fight back and vows he will be exonerated.
His troubles started last year when DEA agents in Roanoke, Va., began
seizing luxury cars that he had sold and financed for residents of that
area. Agents said they believed that buyers of the four cars were linked to
drug dealing.
The drug dealers had used their illicit profits to buy the Greensboro
dealer's luxury cars, the DEA contended. Federal law gives the DEA the
right to seize cars linked in any way to drug dealing or drug money.
Kennedy hired a lawyer and sued the federal government in July, arguing that
it had no right to punish him by seizing cars in which he still has a heavy
financial interest.
He has that interest because his business, Herbie's Auto Sales, continues to
own part of the cars he sells until the buyers pay in full. It isn't fair
that he should lose that investment because he unknowingly sold the cars to
some bad people, his lawsuit contends.
During Wednesday's search, along with the cars and other material, agents
also seized business records he needs to press his civil suit against the
DEA's earlier car seizures, he said.
He calls his car dealership Herbie's because Herbert is his first name. He
said he is in his mid-60s and is proud of the reputation he has built in
business circles over the years.
Kennedy said federal agents also raided a car-cleaning business in Roanoke
last week, "Herbie's Two," to which he has no business ties. He simply
allowed an acquaintance to use the name as a way of helping the other man
get established, Kennedy said.
Kennedy has been subpoenaed to appear Aug. 30 before a federal grand jury
in Greensboro as a result of Wednesday's action, a search that also involved
the Internal Revenue Service.
A spokeswoman for Greensboro's DEA office said she did not think local
agents were involved in the case and referred questions to the agency's
Roanoke office.
Ray Melick, agent in charge of the DEA's Roanoke office, declined to comment
on any aspect of the agency's interaction with Kennedy either in Greensboro
or Roanoke.
"It's still in the investigation stage," Melick said.
But generally, Melick said, his agency is empowered to "seize vehicles
administratively" if agents believe they are linked to drug dealing or have
been bought with drug-dealing profits.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin
***********************
Mark
Sign on my front door
___________________________
Notice posted.
This is not a peanut free zone!
The use of adult beverages, tobacco products, sugar,
salt, caffeine, high fat foods and firearms (when necessary)
is encouraged on these premises.
Jack-booted government thugs without warrants
will be shot upon entry.
Have a nice day :-)
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