Guest deals some drugs in small family owned motel. Govt want's to seize it [View all]
BOSTON (AP) — Russ Caswell is not charged with any crime, but next week he'll be in a federal courtroom fighting to keep a motel his father built almost six decades ago.
The U.S. government has moved to take the Motel Caswell, a $57-per-night budget motel, under a law that allows for the forfeiture of properties connected to crimes. The government says the motel should be shut down because of drug dealing by some of its guests.
Caswell, 69, is still stunned by the move, three years after he received a forfeiture notice in the mail.
"They are holding me responsible for the actions of a few people who I don't know and I've never met before, people who rent a room," Caswell said. "Out of thousands of people who stay here, a handful do something wrong and they're trying to blame me for it."
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Caswell's lawyers say every budget motel has a certain number of guests who commit crimes, but the government targeted the Motel Caswell because it is family-owned and mortgage-free.
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Criminal forfeiture laws require a person to be convicted of a crime before property can be taken, but civil forfeiture allows prosecutors to take properties without convicting anyone.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/05/motel-caswell-drugs_n_2076219.html
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