Did The Cops Search Me Illegally??

Off Topic
61

Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Those who live in grow houses with a known base head (with warrants no less) shouldn’t be calling the police under any circumstances.

For obvious reasons, Distribution (dealing) of any drug is not dealt with as harshly as Manufacturing (growing). You’ve got real problems.

You have put yourself on a very steep learning curve. Right now you are at the bottom of it and the cops are at the top.

You and your brother (who is an accessory) need to be making some hard decisions right now, today. At this point it’s all about damage control and you two sound seriously damaged.

The fact that you didn’t have a really good criminal defense attorney on speed dial before you even ordered your seeds is a good sign that you are in way over your head. You should have been calling your lawyer before they entered your house.

The problem you have, is that with 40 plants in the house they can very reasonably argue to a judge, that when they talked to you on the night in question you wreaked like pot and you had a spaced out look about you that made them suspicious and they knew your brother from the local crackhouse they’ve been watching.

When the got to the front door of your house they could smell it. The K9 unit in one of the cars was begging for a milkbone before they got in your driveway.

Make no mistake, in the eyes of the law, you have 40 viable pot plants. Male, female, hermaphrodite it’s all good to the law.

In my state of MI 1-19 plants is a 7.5 year felony, 20 - 199 steps it up to a 15 year felony. 40 plants is serious.

If you are a dirt farmer they will weigh the plants in the pot with the dirt, so you are looking at possesion of possibly several hundred pounds of weed even if they just sprouted.

There is a place you and your brother can go to get FREE help tonight. It’s called the fellowship of Narcaotics Anonymous. You need to stop using, get a sponsor and start a 90/90 (ninety meetings in ninety days).

You and your brother freely making an admission that you both have a drug problem and are actively taking steps to deal with it, might get you a little mercy when you go before the judge. Rehabs cost thousands, NA is free.

The two of you telling the judge “this has been a much needed wake up call for our family”
might save Mommy and Daddy from losing the house. Think about it, you owe them that much.

62

From a LEO…federal forfeiture rules are strict and very specific. The cases where my dept. was able to sieze drug assets are few. As much as the “anti drug war” crowd may not want to believe it.

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[quote]tgace wrote:
From a LEO…federal forfeiture rules are strict and very specific. The cases where my dept. was able to sieze drug assets are few. As much as the “anti drug war” crowd may not want to believe it.[/quote]

According to section 881 (properties subject to federal forfeiture):

(7) All real property, including any right, title, and interest (including any leasehold interest) in the whole of any lot or tract of land and any appurtenances or improvements, which is used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission of, a violation of this subchapter punishable by more than one year’s imprisonment, except that no property shall be forfeited under this paragraph, to the extent of an interest of an owner, by reason of any act or omission established by that owner to have been committed or omitted without the knowledge or consent of that owner.

So the issue seems to be whether or not they think the parents knew about the drug growing. If they did, or some bureaucrat determines they did, bye-bye house. I am not a lawyer, however, so I may have missed something.

64

There are many issues involved in forfeiture beyond the written statute.

The federal government has a large number of forfeiture statutes, but the most widely used are: 21 U.S.C. ?? 853, 881 (relating to drug offenses), 18 U.S.C. ? 1963 (racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations), 8 U.S.C. ? 1324 (immigration), 18 U.S.C. ? 545,19 U.S.C. ? 1497, 31 U.S.C. ? 5317 (customs violations), 49 U.S.C. ? 781 (transportation of drugs, illegal weapons, counterfeit money).

Below is a discussion of the federal forfeiture statutes which commonly relate to drug law enforcement. Drug forfeitures under federal statutes

The most commonly used civil forfeiture statute governing forfeiture for drug offenses is 21 U.S.C. ? 881(a). It subjects to forfeiture:

(1) all controlled substances;

(2) raw materials, products and equipment used or intended for use to manufacture, process, deliver or import/export controlled substances;

(3) property used or intended for use as containers for controlled substances;

(4) conveyances, including aircraft, vehicles or vessels (except common carriers whose owner was not a consenting party or privy to the offense) used or intended for use to transport or facilitate the transportation of controlled substances. This section has two innocent owner defenses other than the common carrier exception, ? 881(a)(4)(B) and ? 881 (a)(4)(C);

(5) books, records, research, formulas and data used in violation of the drug laws;

(6) money and negotiable instruments or any other thing of value “furnished or intended to be furnished” in exchange for controlled substances, including all proceeds traceable to such a transaction, and money and negotiable instruments used or intended to be used to facilitate a violation of the drug laws. This section has an innocent owner defense which protects the interest of any owner from forfeiture of money “by reason of any act or omission established by that owner to have been committed or omitted without the knowledge or consent of that owner”;

(7) all right, title and interest to real property which was used or intended for use to commit, or to facilitate the commission of a felony drug offense. An innocent owner is protected from forfeiture of his/her interest in real estate “by reason of any act or omission established by that owner to have been committed or omitted without the knowledge or consent of that owner”;

(8) controlled substances possessed in violation of the drug laws;

(9) chemicals and equipment used in manufacture, distribution;

(10) drug paraphernalia

(11) firearms used or intended to be used to faciliate a drug offense.

In other words (and in a very general sense) the gvt. would have to show that the house was either paid for with drug money or that the owners had knowledge of what was going on inside. There is usually some sort proof of drug income required too. In my experience, weed growing operations have to be pretty big and profitable (like warehouse size grow ops) before forfeiture enters the picture. Depending on the state law in this case; this kid may not have reached felony level on a 40 plant grow op.

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Here is a tip; if you are growing pot in your home, DON’T CALL THE COPS!

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[quote]Lorisco wrote:
Here is a tip; if you are growing pot in your home, DON’T CALL THE COPS![/quote]

One would think eh?

67

[quote]Sifu wrote:
Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
[/quote]

Or is that “People in glass houses sink ships!”

68

[quote]swerven wrote:
nephorm wrote:
swerven wrote:
40 plants is probably real, federal, butt pounding prison. He needs to figure any way out of this he can.

As to the problem, here:
If your brother tipped them off, then they had probable cause to get a warrant and enter the home…

Sorry Neophorm - this is the attitude that sucks IMO, [heavy sarcasm] the problem is not that HE chose to grow 40 plants - no the problem is that he got caught! Solution - call the fucking lawyers and try to weasel out of it!

Did you ever stop and think that there is a reason why 40 plants might mean a trip to ‘real butt pounding’ prison as you so eloquently put it. OK, he says he is not a dealer, but who knows - down the track. Sounds like your brother might be the sort to try and sell the stuff down the track - he pinched your wallett for starters and it probably wasn’t to buy early birthday presents. It is fuckwits like this (who do deal) that get innocent kids hooked on these so called soft drugs before they get stuck into the hard stuff. His brother sounds like a walking time bomb, and what is he doing to help, growing fuckin weed.

If he ends up in prison, then for each ‘butt pounding’ he cops he should remember why he is in there. Not his brothers fault, not the cops fault - it was his fault.[/quote]

Marijuana is not the devil for future reference.

69

[quote]KBCThird wrote:
sic wrote:
KBCThird wrote:
sic wrote:
KBCThird wrote:
see earlier posts.

I expected your longwinded response. All I meant by my post was… if you do something illegal, fully knowing it is illegal, don’t bitch when you get caught. I didn’t say everyone should adhere to the letter of the law at all times.

Glad you think a full explanation is “longwinded.” [rolls eyes] Oh and I’m glad that your fortune telling abilities caused you to expect my post. congratulations.

The last two sentences of your post seem to contradict each other. You dont have to follow unjust laws but you cant complain about them?

[/quote]

When in Rome do as the Romans do, and if you don’t, even if the custom is stupid, morally perverse, and defies all reason, don’t be surprised if they don’t like you is what he is saying. It’s like missing class everyday because you can and still do very well and expecting the teacher to treat you the same as everyone else.

70

Without being too rude, you sound like the dumbest motherfucker on earth, and a fucking cry baby to boot.

Your brother hits you, you call 911.

Your brother hits you again and takes your wallet, you call 911.

You have a crop in the house and call 911.

You are dumb enough to sign a confession.

You are dumb enough to ask random geezers on the internet what you should do next.

You disgust me. You should go to jail. You aren’t smart enough to live out here in the free world.

71

Speaking as another LEO, most departments (especially local govt) won’t deal with the hassle of asset forfeiture except in the case of very large scale operations. Especially a house not owned by the tenant doing the growing. I’ve been a detective for some time now and despite what the anti-war-on-drugs people say, asset forfeiture of real property is rare. But hey, here’s a free tip for any idiot drug dealer, DON’T BUY SHIT WITH DRUG MONEY. IF YOU DO, YOU DESERVE TO HAVE IT TAKEN FROM YOU.

72

Wow, your a real winner. Hopefully you can sell some ganja and get a decent lawyer…

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[quote]Massif wrote:
…

You disgust me. You should go to jail. You aren’t smart enough to live out here in the free world. [/quote]

He should have a forced vasectomy too.

74

Sure this guy is a dumbass. What’s worse is this isn’t that uncommon among drug users (no offense to my weed smokin brethren who use it wisely but you guys are definitely in the minority).

Most dumbasses think they’re smarter than what they really are. This causes them to think they can talk their way out of being arrested for dumb shit like this. As a result, the cops often get them so shook up they have these “intimate conversations” that X mentioned. They cry and shoot snot and all that shit and end up ratting on their friends. I’ve seen it happen way too many times.

That’s why I say all drug dealers are fuckin idiots. To trust your freedom in the hands of a drug using deusch who has no sense of loyalty except to his habit is retarded. But most drug dealers also have a habit to support which clouds their judgement.

Original Poster: You better cop a plea man.