Comment by jimt1234

My ex's brother's situation was in the early-90s, when civil forfeiture was - well, I don't think the legal concept was new, but the cops sure acted like it was. They kept telling his attorney that there was no process to challenge the forfeiture, and the attorney seemed to confirm that. He spent countless hours just trying to figure out how to proceed in court.

I think at one point his attorney got a court to basically order the cops to return his assets, but the cops flat-out refused. I think that's when the cops came with the offer of about 10% of the value of the seized assets (around $50K). His attorney, a close family friend, advised him to take it.

My ex's brother was absolutely innocent. And the whole process broke him. He had to move him and his family back into his parents' house while the situation unfolded. And that's why he took his family to live in Mexico. It's such a shame, too, because last I heard he was doing really well in Mexico; he opened a bunch of automated car washes. So, it sucks that a hard-working, entrepreneurial dude like him took his talents to another country because the corrupt-ass local cops wanted free shit.