United States of America v. Approximately $158,000.00 in U.S. Currency, No. 1:2012cv01260 - Document 48 (E.D. Cal. 2013)
Court Description: FINAL JUDGMENT of Forfeiture signed by District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on 11/25/2013. CASE CLOSED.(Flores, E)
Download PDF
<![CDATA[
1 2 3 4 5 6 BENJAMIN B. WAGNER United States Attorney JEFFREY A. SPIVAK HEATHER MARDEL JONES Assistant United States Attorneys United States Courthouse 2500 Tulare Street, Suite 4401 Fresno, California 93721 (559) 497-4000 Telephone (559) 497-4099 Facsimile Attorneys for the United States 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) 1:12-CV-01260-AWI-SMS ) Plaintiff, ) FINAL JUDGMENT OF FORFEITURE ) v. ) ) APPROXIMATELY $158,000.00 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY, ) ) Defendant. ) ) 17 Pursuant to the Stipulation for Final Judgment of Forfeiture, the Court finds: 18 1. This is a civil forfeiture action against the defendant approximately 19 $158,000.00 in U.S. Currency (hereafter “defendant currency”) seized on or about February 20 22, 2012. 21 2. A Verified Complaint for Forfeiture In Rem (“Complaint”) was filed on August 22 2, 2012, alleging that said defendant currency is subject to forfeiture to the United States of 23 America pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(A), 31 U.S.C. §§ 5317, 5332, and 21 U.S.C. § 24 881(a)(6). 25 26 27 28 3. On August 15, 2012, the Clerk issued a Warrant for Arrest for the defendant currency. The warrant for the defendant currency was duly executed on August 24, 2012. 4. Beginning on August 8, 2012, for at least 30 consecutive days, the United States published notice of this action on the official government forfeiture site 29 1 Final Judgment of Forfeiture 1 2 www.forfeiture.gov. A Declaration of Publication was filed on September 13, 2012. 5. In addition to the public notice on the official internet government forfeiture 3 site www.forfeiture.gov, actual notice or attempted notice was given to the following 4 individuals: 5 a. James Choe 6 b. Steve Yun Lee 7 c. Lyndon Jin Ahn 8 d. Young Kim 9 e. Genie Choe f. Mark A. Broughton, attorney 10 11 6. On September 21, 2012, James Choe and Steve Lee filed their claims to the 12 defendant currency. Their answer was filed on April 19, 2013. To date, no other parties 13 have filed claims or answers in this matter, and the time in which any person or entity may 14 file a claim and answer has expired. 15 7. The Clerk of the Court entered a Clerk’s Certificate of Entry of Default against 16 Lyndon Jin Ahn, Young Kim, and Genie Choe on October 24, 2012. Pursuant to Local Rule 17 540, the United States and Claimants James Choe and Steve Lee thus join in a request that 18 as part of this Final Judgment of Forfeiture in this case the Court enter a default judgment 19 against the interest, if any, of Lyndon Jin Ahn, Young Kim, and Genie Choe. 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Based on the above findings, and the files and records of the Court, it is hereby ORDERED AND ADJUDGED: 1. The Court adopts the Stipulation for Final Judgment of Forfeiture entered into by and between the parties to this action. 2. That judgment is hereby entered against James Choe, Steve Lee, Lyndon Jin Ahn, Young Kim, Genie Choe, and all other potential claimants. 3. Upon entry of a Final Judgment of Forfeiture herein, $88,000.00 of the 27 defendant approximately $158,000.00 in U.S. Currency, together with any interest that has 28 accrued on the entire $158,000.00, shall be forfeited to the United States pursuant to 18 29 2 Final Judgment of Forfeiture 1 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(A), 31 U.S.C. §§ 5317, 5332, and 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(6), to be disposed of 2 according to law. 3 4. Upon entry of a Final Judgment of Forfeiture herein, but no later than 45 days 4 thereafter, $70,000.00 of the defendant approximately $158,000.00 in U.S. Currency shall 5 be returned to Claimants James Choe and Steve Lee through their attorney Mark A. 6 Broughton, Hammerschmidt Broughton, Law Corporation, 2445 Capitol Street, Suite 150, 7 Fresno, California 93721, telephone (559) 233-5333. 8 9 5. That the United States of America and its servants, agents, and employees and all other public entities, their servants, agents, and employees, are released from any 10 and all liability arising out of or in any way connected with the seizure, arrest, or forfeiture 11 of the defendant currency. This is a full and final release applying to all unknown and 12 unanticipated injuries, and/or damages arising out of said seizure, arrest, or forfeiture, as 13 well as to those now known or disclosed. Claimants agree to waive the provisions of 14 California Civil Code § 1542. 15 6. That pursuant to the stipulation of the parties, and the allegations set forth in 16 the Complaint filed on August 2, 2012, the Court finds that there was probable cause for 17 arrest and seizure of the defendant currency, and for the commencement and prosecution of 18 this forfeiture action, and a Certificate of Reasonable Cause pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2465 19 shall be entered accordingly. 20 7. All parties shall bear their own costs and attorney’s fees. 21 8. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California shall retain 22 jurisdiction to enforce the terms of this Stipulation for Final Judgment of Forfeiture and 23 Final Judgment of Forfeiture. 24 25 26 27 28 29 3 Final Judgment of Forfeiture 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 CERTIFICATE OF REASONABLE CAUSE Based upon the allegations set forth in the Complaint filed August 2, 2012, and the Stipulation for Final Judgment of Forfeiture filed herein, the Court enters this Certificate of Reasonable Cause pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2465, that there was reasonable cause for the seizure or arrest of the defendant currency, and for the commencement and prosecution of this forfeiture action. 9 10 11 12 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: November 25, 2013 SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 4 Final Judgment of Forfeiture
]]>
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You
should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.
