Judge Denise Cote
When arrested in 2004, guns, ammunition, a tazer and $38,612 in cash were among the items seized from Rudaj. Found guilty on RICO charges and other counts on Jan. 4, 2006, Rudaj was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to forfeit property. A $5.755 million money judgment was entered against him. Under a 2010 “Final Order” the government credited Rudaj $262,612 for certain investments and agreed to apply $226,365—one-half the proceeds from the sale of his home—toward the money judgment. Ordering that the cash seized at Rudaj’s arrest be applied to the money judgment against him, district court denied Rudaj’s Aug. 23, 2013 motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(g) for return of the seized property, as both untimely under Rule 41(g)’s six year limitation period, and because most of the items listed on the inventory of seized property were firearms or ammunition constituting contraband properly seized by the government. The court observed that although conviction did not become final until March 8, 2010, Rudaj could have sought the property’s return at sentencing in June 2006. Further although Rudaj asked that the firearms and ammunition be returned to his wife, there was no basis to find that they belonged to her.
