Judge Allyne Ross
Acosta was arrested in 2007. Federal agents seized his computer, printer/scanner, cell phone and pickup truck. The truck was stored at a Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) lot. Pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine and to commit money laundering, Acosta was sentenced, in October 2009, to 240 months in prison. Law enforcement authorities decided not to seek his truck’s forfeiture. The NCPD’s May 16, 2012, letter warned Acosta the truck would be disposed of as abandoned property if not reclaimed within 15 days. On Oct. 14, the NCPD had the truck crushed. Despite denying return of his other items, the court found Acosta’s 42 USC §1983 claim arising from his truck’s destruction should proceed to discovery. His imprisonment when the NCPD sent its May 16 letter to his home address supported an inference that government officials knew or should have known that he would not receive the letter in time to claim his truck. However, the United States was an improper defendant. Based on its storage at an NCPD lot and the May 16 letter’s statement that "the County" would dispose of it if unclaimed, it appeared state officials were responsible for allegedly depriving Acosta of his truck without adequate notice.
