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Meth Dealer Faces Loss of His Comic Book Collection
cultiv8 writes "According to an article from The Smoking Gun: 'A large-scale methamphetamine dealer who allegedly laundered drug profits by purchasing valuable comic books is in danger of forfeiting his 18,753-volume collection to Uncle Sam, according to a new court filing. Federal prosecutors yesterday filed a US District Court complaint seeking ownership of the comic book holdings of Aaron Castro, 30, who is facing a May trial in Colorado on narcotics distribution and weapons charges. The comics are valued in excess of $500,000.'"
It means a comic book collection worth $500,000 will be going on sale at auction at bargain basement prices.
Dude, I don't think the guy reads comics.
Secondly, I think this is a clever way of laundering money. A bunch of small purchases that (should have) gone unnoticed, and then, one big sale of these on ebay while paying the income tax and paper trailing everything. Pretty smart, except for the fact that he got caught.
that would be a war on society, then.
society (its complexity) causes people to need to 'get away' from that very society.
interesting, huh?
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Seriously? How about the fact that the government is seeking ownership of half a million dollars in posessions that belong to a man who has not yet been convicted? Should you lose your comic or game collection or your car or even your home for merely being *accused* and tried for a crime? If the government has any business taking your property at ANY time, shouldn't it at least be AFTER you are CONVICTED? You know, when you've been found to actually be GUILTY?
If only. What we have here is that he is an ALLEGED meth dealer. They WILL be taking his comics through the absurdist legal fiction of suing the comic books themselves! (Yes, literally, the case is "United States Of America vs. 18,753 comic books"!) They do that so they can avoid invoking the Constitutional rights accorded to a person in court. They conveniently gloss over the (former) owner's 5th amendment rights by claiming that he's not involved. They might or might not bother with trying to prove this guy guilty of anything in a court of law once they get his property. Being found not guilty in a criminal trail will in no way allow him to recover his seized property. The system's rigged to not allow for that.
IF they first prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he is a meth dealer, THEN I would be OK with them taking the comics as part of his sentence, but only if the proceeds from their sale did not go back to the police, DA, or judge (except by passing through the general fund). Otherwise it creates a perverse incentive to railroad people for their possessions.