Wednesday, January 06, 1999
Ex-UC star wants confiscated $19,000 returned
BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A former University of Cincinnati basketball standout and current Los Angeles Laker is fighting to reclaim $19,000 seized from him during a traffic stop on Christmas Eve.
Corie Blount, 30, of Columbus was pulled over by the Ohio State Highway Patrol near Wilmington on suspicion of a minor traffic violation. During the incident, police seized about $19,000 in cash from his vehicle.
State police issued a warning to Mr. Blount for having a tinted window and a citation for having no front license plate, said Lt. John Born, patrol spokesman. A police dog searched Mr. Blount's car and alerted troopers to the money.
The money was seized and turned over to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, said Frank Magoch, a DEA assistant special agent in Detroit. No drugs were found during the search, Mr. Magoch said. He added there are no charges filed against Mr. Blount, and no further cause for an investigation.
Federal courts have allowed authorities to confiscate large amounts of cash when they have adequate reason to believe it will be used to purchase drugs or comes from the sale of drugs. There are administrative procedures through which a person can try to get the money back, and failing that, the individual can take the case to court.
Such seizures are called civil forfeiture when there is no accompanying charge of criminal activity related to the money.
A typical challenge, however, is that officers who confiscated the money did not have probable cause for their actions, that is, a clear-cut reason to take the person's money. Civil libertarians have complained about forfeiture for years, saying authorities use it to raise money, rather than deter crime.
Neither Mr. Magoch nor Lt. Born could say why Mr. Blount's car was searched. Mr. Blount could not be reached for comment. His agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Tuesday night his client was trying to understand what happened and said police erred.
“It was a mistake, and it will be cleared up,” Mr. Bartelstein said. He said he did not know why Mr. Blount had such a large amount of cash.
The former UC basketball star is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, though the NBA season has been a washout to date because of the owners' lockout.
Mr. Blount made $1.43 million last year, and has grossed just more than $6 million in a five-year career.
Ben Kaufman contributed to this report.
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