United States District Court, E.D. California
McGREGOR W. SCOTT United States Attorney KEVIN C. KHASIGIAN
Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for the United States
CONSENT JUDGMENT OF FORFEITURE
MORRISON C. ENGLAND, JR. UNITED STATES DISTRTCT JUDGE.
Pursuant
to the Stipulation for Consent Judgment of Forfeiture, the
Court finds:
1. On
April 2, 5, 9, and 10, 2018, inspectors with the United
States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”) seized
fifteen parcels each containing U.S. Currency and totaling
$120, 600.00 (hereafter “defendant currency”).
The basis of the Inspection Service investigation was a
review of the U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail records in
Sacramento, California.
2.
USPIS commenced administrative forfeiture proceedings,
sending direct written notice to all known potential
claimants and publishing notice to all others. On or about
June 8, 2018, USPIS received claims from Robert Kurtz
(“Kurtz” or “claimant”) asserting an
ownership interest in the defendant currency.
3.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could show at a forfeiture trial that
on or about April 2, 2018, USPIS conducted a parcel
interdiction at the Post Office located at 2000 Royal Oaks
Drive, Sacramento, California. During the interdiction, law
enforcement officials identified a parcel that bore markers
consistent with parcels used for shipping contraband,
Priority Mail parcel # 9505 5110 2717 8087 2090 58 (Parcel
#1), addressed to Robert Kurtz, P.O. Box 1440, Rocklin,
California 95677, with the following return address: Andrew
Shore, 6505 Eagle Nest Drive, Summerfield, NC 27358. Law
enforcement searched public records databases and could not
identify Andrew Shore (“Shore”) as a mail
recipient at 6505 Eagle Nest Drive and called him to confirm
the address on the parcel. Law enforcement searched public
records databases confirmed Kurtz received mail at P.O. Box
1440, Rocklin, CA 95677. Contact was made with the Post
Office that delivers to this address. The Post Office
provided an application that revealed Kurtz had applied for
the box with a listed address of a residence in Rocklin,
California.
4.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could further show at a forfeiture
trial that Parcel #1 was presented to a drug detection dog,
who positively alerted to the presence of the odor of
narcotics.
5.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could further show at a forfeiture
trial that on April 2, 2018, Shore consented to law
enforcement searching Parcel #1. Inside Parcel #1, law
enforcement found packing peanuts and a plastic bag
containing carbon paper and $2, 000.00 in cash. Parcel #1 did
not contain any notes, receipts, or instructions.
6.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could show at a forfeiture trial that
between March 23, 2018 and April 4, 2018, the USPIS
identified eight additional priority mail parcels being
shipped to Kurtz' P.O. Box and other residences in
Northern California. On April 2, 2018, law enforcement made
several calls to Kurtz and Kurtz told law enforcement he was
not expecting any parcels. Kurtz declined to give law
enforcement consent to search the parcels and said he would
call them back after consulting with his lawyer. Law
enforcement did not hear back from Kurtz.
7.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could show at a forfeiture trial that
Priority Mail parcel # 9505 5104 5912 8086 3045 11 (Parcel
#2) and Priority Mail parcel # 9505 5104 5912 8086 3045 28
(Parcel #3) were both addressed to Robert Kurtz at 2358 Amber
Falls Drive, Rocklin, California 95765, with the following
return address: Nicholas Tollefson, 76 Patriot Circle,
Mountain Top, PA 18707.
8.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could further show at a forfeiture
trial that on April 2, 2018, Parcels #2 and #3 were presented
to a drug detection dog, who positively alerted to the
presence of the odor of narcotics.
9.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could further show at a forfeiture
trial that on April 2, 2018, law enforcement obtained consent
from Nicholas Tollefson to open Parcels #2 and #3. Inside
Parcels #2 and #3, law enforcement found vacuum-sealed
bundles of carbon paper containing each $17, 600.00 in
cash-$8, 800.00 in cash in each parcel. Neither parcel
contained any notes, receipts, or instructions. The currency
consisted mainly of $20 bills.
10.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could further show at a forfeiture
trial that April 5, 2018, law enforcement obtained federal
search warrants for six Priority Mail parcels addressed to
Robert Kurtz: # 9505 5148 4704 8082 2727 08 (Parcel #4); #
9505 5148 4704 8082 2727 15 (Parcel #5); # 9505 5139 4269
8087 4016 71 (Parcel #6); # 9505 5139 4269 8087 4016 95
(Parcel #7); # 9505 5141 2594 8087 2108 71 (Parcel #8); and #
9505 5139 4269 8087 4016 88 (Parcel #9). All of the parcels,
except Parcel #8, had the following return address: Brian
Johnson, 8215 Stoner Rd Lot 810, Riverview, FL 33569. Parcel
#8 had the following return address: M. Jones, 46 Oxford Ave,
Apt. #4, Buffalo, NY 14209.
11.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could further show at a forfeiture
trial that inside Parcels #4 through #9 were vacuum-sealed
carbon paper containing various amounts of bundled cash.
Parcel #4 contained cash totaling $8, 000.00. Parcel #5
contained cash totaling $8, 000.00. Parcel #6 contained cash
totaling $9, 000.00. Parcel #7 contained cash totaling $9,
000.00. Parcel #8 contained cash totaling $4, 000.00. Parcel
#9 contained cash totaling $9, 000.00. None of the parcels
contained any notes, receipts, or instructions. The currency
seized from Parcels #4 through #9 mostly consisted of $20
bills.
12.
Claimant does not contest the United States'
representation that it could further show at a forfeiture
trial that on April 2, 2018, Parcels #4 through #9 were
separately presented to a drug detection dog, who positively
...