United States of America v. Aproximately $19,000.00 in U.S. Currency et al
Filing
19
ORDER signed by Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr on 5/6/2010 re 18 ORDERING that this action is stayed until the conclusion of the criminal case, at which time the parties will advise the Court whether a further stay is necessary. Furthermore, Claimants' answer in this civil action must be filed in this civil action within 20 days after such stay is lifted.(Duong, D)
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1 DANIEL J. BRODERICK, Bar #89424 Federal Defender 2 MICHAEL PETRIK, Jr., Bar #177913 Assistant Federal Defender 3 Attorneys For Claimant 801 I Street, 3rd Floor 4 Sacramento, California 95814 5 Attorneys for Claimants Gary Truong and Pik Lam Chan 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 13 14 v. Plaintiff, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 10-cv-496-GEB-GGH STIPULATION TO STAY FURTHER PROCEEDINGS AND ORDER UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
15 APPROXIMATELY $19,000.00 IN U.S. CURRENCY, 16 APPROXIMATELY $10,000 IN 17 U.S. CURRENCY, 18 APPROXIMATELY $16,929.00 IN U.S. CURRENCY, and 19 ONE 2005 FORD F-150 TRUCK, VIN: 20 1FTPW14515FB11508, CALIFORNIA LICENSE NUMBER: 8A48619, 21 Defendants. 22 23
Gary Truong and Pik Lam Chan (hereafter "Claimants"), and United States of America,
24 by and through their respective counsel, hereby stipulate that a stay is necessary in the above25 entitled action, and request that the Court enter an order staying all further proceedings until the 26 conclusion of criminal case against defendants. Claimants have filed a claim, but have not yet 27 28 1
1 filed an Answer and will not be required to do so until the stay contemplated by this stipulation 2 expires. 3 The Grand Jury in the Eastern District of California indicted Gary Truong on violations of
4 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841 (a) (1) -- conspiracy to manufacture at least 100 marijuana plants and 5 manufacture of at least 100 marijuana plants. 6 The stay is requested pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981 (g) (1), 981 (g) (2), and 21 U.S.C. §
7 881 (i). The plaintiff contends that the defendant $16,929.00 and the defendant Ford F-150 8 (hereinafter collectively "defendant property") constitute moneys or other things of value 9 furnished or intended to be furnished by any person in exchange for a controlled substance or 10 listed chemical in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 et seq. 11 The plaintiff intends to depose Claimants regarding their claim and their involvement in
12 and/or knowledge of drug-trafficking; the source of the funds seized; and other facts as alleged in 13 the complaint. Claimants will likely attempt to depose law enforcement officers who have been 14 involved in the drug-trafficking investigation that resulted in the seizure of the defendant 15 currency and that is the basis for the pending criminal case. If discovery proceeds at this time, 16 Claimants will be placed in the difficult position of either invoking their Fifth Amendment rights 17 against self-incrimination and losing the ability to pursue their claim to the defendant currency, 18 or waiving their Fifth Amendment rights and submitting to a deposition and potentially 19 incriminating themselves. If they invoke their Fifth Amendment rights, Claimants will be 20 deprived of the ability to explore the factual basis for the claim they filed with this Court in this 21 action. 22 In addition, to the extent Claimants intend to depose, among others, the agents involved
23 in the underlying investigation, allowing depositions of the law enforcement officers at this time 24 would adversely affect the United States' prosecution of the criminal case against Claimants. 25 The parties recognize that proceeding with this action at this time has potential adverse
26 effects on the prosecution of the underlying criminal case and/or upon Claimants' ability to prove 27 28 2
1 their claim to the defendant property and to assert any defenses to the forfeiture. For these 2 reasons, the parties jointly request that this matter be stayed until the conclusion of the criminal 3 case. At that time, the parties will advise the court of the status of the criminal case and will 4 advise the court whether a further stay is necessary. 5 Dated: May 3, 2010 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Dated: May 3, 2010 14 15 16 17 ORDER For the reasons set forth above, this action is stayed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981 (g) (1), /s/ M. Petrik for Saralyn M. Ang-Olson SARALYN M. ANG-OLSON Special Assistant U.S. Attorney BENJAMIN B. WAGNER United States Attorney /s/ M. Petrik MICHAEL PETRIK, JR. Assistant Federal Defender Attorney for Gary Truong and Pik Lam Chan Respectfully submitted, DANIEL J. BRODERICK Federal Defender
18 981 (g) (2), and 21 U.S.C. § 881 (i) until the conclusion of the criminal case, at which time the 19 parties will advise the Court whether a further stay is necessary. 20 Furthermore, Claimants' answer in this civil action must be filed in this civil action
21 within 20 days after such stay is lifted. 22 IT IS SO ORDERED.
23 Dated: May 6, 2010 24 25 26 27 28 3 GARLAND E. BURRELL, JR. United States District Judge
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