Saw this on AOPA this morning. Renter was apparently smuggling illegal's across the border in a rented C172. Feds have confiscated his aircraft making it a little tough to run a flight school.


http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2012/120202flight-school-victimized-by-renters-smuggling-arrest.html?WT.mc_id=120210eflight&WT.mc_sect=ftn

WTF!!! Why does the owner lose the plane?

According to the article, he didn't bring them across the border, they were already in the US illeagally, he was going to fly them farther north to avoid the INS checkpoints along the main roads. As for why confiscate the airplane, becasuse it's worth money and they can. It has nothing to do with "justice", it's "justice J.D. Hogg" making a profit any way he can.

It's called King George III's law.

Some enforcement agencies hire people funded off of nothing but civil seizures. A guy in Montana was growing a couple (not 3, not more) pot plants while living in a shack on his mom's largish ranch. He got raided, and they took his mom's the ranch. The contract detective they hired on commission got over 10% of the proceeds by contract, became a modestly wealthy middle aged man overnight, retired, and moved out of the area. The formerly land-rich, money-poor woman victim moved in with relatives.

The criminal case against the son was eventually made in to a misdemeanor possession. The seizure was never given back.

They seize the airplane because it was used in the commission of a crime, and is thus subject to seizure. The flight school can argue that they didn't know what it was being used for to the judge and the judge CAN give it back to them. Otherwise, they can go to their insurance company and ask them to pay up.

Finally, they can sue the guy who got arrested, assuming he has any monetary worth.

Good luck on all counts.

MTV

lesuther wrote:It's called King George III's law.

Some enforcement agencies hire people funded off of nothing but civil seizures. A guy in Montana was growing a couple (not 3, not more) pot plants while living in a shack on his mom's largish ranch. He got raided, and they took his mom's the ranch. The contract detective they hired on commission got over 10% of the proceeds by contract, became a modestly wealthy middle aged man overnight, retired, and moved out of the area. The formerly land-rich, money-poor woman victim moved in with relatives.

The criminal case against the son was eventually made in to a misdemeanor possession. The seizure was never given back.

I call BS on that story, got a link?

670x wrote:

lesuther wrote:It's called King George III's law.

Some enforcement agencies hire people funded off of nothing but civil seizures. A guy in Montana was growing a couple (not 3, not more) pot plants while living in a shack on his mom's largish ranch. He got raided, and they took his mom's the ranch. The contract detective they hired on commission got over 10% of the proceeds by contract, became a modestly wealthy middle aged man overnight, retired, and moved out of the area. The formerly land-rich, money-poor woman victim moved in with relatives.

The criminal case against the son was eventually made in to a misdemeanor possession. The seizure was never given back.

I call BS on that story, got a link?

I heard it from a friend of a friend who read it on the internet it has to be true. ha ha

I have been burned so many times by BS emails I hardly believe anything on the net and try to verify before I post rumors.