many instances where individuals lose their assets and property without ever being convicted of a crime. In some cases, property is forfeited despite the owner never even being charged with a crime.
The following section recounts some of these stories from the last 30 years in Michigan. This is only a glimpse into the mistreatment people have endured through asset forfeiture. There are likely several similar stories for each of the incidents retold here.
In December 2020, the mayor and chief of police in Highland Park inspected a building where medical marijuana was being grown. The chief seized the property and held it for a year and a half without prosecutors charging anyone with a crime. The city then tried to entice the owners of the property to buy two new vehicles for the police department in exchange for returning their assets to them.[7]
In May 2016, the Michigan State Police pulled over a man in Flint because they thought he had made a drug deal at a McDonald’s. The man had been stopped in the city the previous night and gave an “inconsistent account” of his destination. The police searched the car and found no drugs or illegal material but still seized $2,035 in cash. Police did not arrest the man and prosecutors never charged him with a crime, but the money was forfeited to the state nevertheless.[8]
In September 2014, Wally Kowalski had his bank account frozen, and his power generator and tools seized by police. Kowalski has a doctorate in design engineering and lives in Van Buren County. He is a medical marijuana patient, who tries to grow the product legally under Michigan law. He was not arrested or charged with a crime until months later. His arrest occurred just hours after Michigan Capitol Confidential, a news site operated by the Mackinac Center, published a report about Kowalski’s plight.[9]
In November 2013, Thomas Williams of St. Joseph County said he spent 10 hours in handcuffs while police searched his home and property. They took his car, television, cell phone and $11,000 in cash. As a result, he was stranded at his home for three days. Williams says he does not know why his assets were frozen for months, nor why the prosecutors working with the Southwestern Enforcement Team, a drug-focused task force, took more than a year to charge him with a crime.[10]
In January 2013, federal agents seized $35,000 from the bank account of the Dehko family, who owned a grocery store in Fraser. The family made frequent cash deposits at their bank because their insurance policy only covered amounts up to $10,000. Federal law requires banks to report transactions above $10,000, and law enforcement suspected the family of intentionally preventing their transactions from being reported, which is illegal. The Dehkos were never charged with a crime, however. The Internal Revenue Service finally returned the money in November 2013 after the family’s story attracted national media coverage.[11]
In November 2012, the Cheung family, restaurant owners living just outside Detroit, had $135,000 frozen in their bank account. They presume this was because they were making routine deposits of slightly less than $10,000, similar to the Dekhos. As a result, the Cheungs could not pay their property taxes or restaurant costs and got into financial trouble. No criminal charges were ever filed, but, fortunately, the money was eventually returned.[12]
In April 2008, law enforcement executed a search warrant in Shiawassee County and found marijuana plants grown by Steven Ostipow. The farmhouse and property were owned by Ostipow’s parents, who lived down the street. Police seized thousands of dollars in assets owned by Gerald and Royetta Ostipow, including a classic car. Gerald and Royetta claimed they had no knowledge of the marijuana plants, and they were never charged with a crime. They spent more than a decade fighting for their property and eventually won a favorable court ruling. But many of their assets had already been sold or disbursed, and so they received little recompense.[13]
In 2004, Krista Vaughn was giving her friend and Red Cross coworker Amanda Odom a ride home from work. After dropping Odom off at a bank in Detroit, Vaughn circled the block before picking her back up. An officer with Wayne County Sheriff’s Morality Unit accused Odom, while she was waiting for Vaughn to return, of making eye contact with nearby motorists, supposedly soliciting prostitution. Police issued Odom a ticket and seized Vaughn’s 2002 Chrysler Sebring. Odom’s ticket was eventually dropped and neither woman was charged with a crime, but police still forced Vaughn to pay $1,400 to get her vehicle back. Vaughn reluctantly paid the fee, reasoning it would be less expensive than trying to fight the case in court.[14]
In 1993, Judy Enright of Ann Arbor had her art seized by U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials while it was on display at an art fair. She used feathers she found in her own backyard in this piece of art. However, according to the Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918, it is illegal to sell certain types of bird feathers, a fact the federal officials used to justify their seizure of the art. Enright was never charged with a crime.[15]
In 1992, the homes of James Fouch and those owned by his two sons were raided by federal officials on suspicion that the family was engaging in loan fraud. Property worth over $500,000 was seized and auctioned off within 21 months. The family’s business — a credit union — was liquidated. No criminal charges were ever filed against any member of the Fouch family.[16]
In 1988, Joseph Haji, suspected of possessing illegal drugs, had his Detroit grocery market searched by police. They did not find any drugs, but drug sniffing dogs responded to a few $1 bills in the cash register. That was enough for law enforcement to seize the $4,384 in cash that was on hand in the store. Prosecutors never charged Haji with a crime, but police kept all the money.[17]