Judge Gerald Lebovits
More than $200,000 was seized by police in the execution of a search warrant. Defendants were arrested and prosecuted for unlawful possession, transportation and sale of untaxed cigarettes. Prosecutors applied for a turnover order requesting the court release funds from the state jurisdiction to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Customs and Border Protection so that federal authorities could determine whether to begin a federal forfeiture proceeding. The court concluded it had authority to allow the police to turn over the seized funds under Criminal Procedure Law §690.55(1)(a). It noted, however, that courts have added conditions beyond those in §690.55 before permitting the transfer of seized assets to federal authorities, including that the federal authorities had ties with or a connection to the case pending in state court. No court aside from Five Thousand Seventy-Six Thousand Dollars interpreted §690.55(1) to require “previous federal involvement.” Yet this court rejected the contention that prior federal involvement was necessary before a court could permit the transfer of seized assets to federal authorities as §690.55(1) did not require such condition, granting the prosecution’s motion.
