U.S. v. Stark

Full title: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. DANIEL WAYNE STARK, SR., Defendant

Court: United States District Court, S.D. Illinois

Date published: Feb 23, 2006

Case No. 03-cr-30190-MJR (S.D. Ill. Feb. 23, 2006)

Opinion

Case No. 03-cr-30190-MJR.

February 23, 2006

ORDER OF FORFEITURE WITH RESPECT TO PROCEEDS OF $263,200.00

MICHAEL REAGAN, District Judge

In the Second Superseding Indictment filed in the above cause on January 20, 2005, the United States sought forfeiture of property of defendant, Daniel Wayne Stark, Sr., pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(1).

The Court finds that the property obtained by the defendant as described in Count 28 ($25,000.00), Count 29 ($22,600.00), and Count 30 ($24,000.00) were all "involved in" the violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 as specified in each of said counts. For these three counts alone, the defendant shall forfeit $71,600.00.

In addition, Count 27 describes a conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) to engage in monetary transactions in criminally derived property. Using the interpretation of the Seventh Circuit of what constitutes property "involved in" for purposes of forfeiture (see United States v. Trost, 152 F.3d 715, 721 (7th Cir. 1998) and United States v. Baker, 227 F.3d 955, 967-971 (7th Cir. 2000); cert. denied 531 U.S. 1151 (2001)), it is clear that those transactions where the defendant obtained funds in exchange for stolen property are all "involved in" the conspiracy described in Count 27 of the Indictment, and the funds are thus forfeitable. The illegal transactions are included in Government's Exhibit 300 and are more fully detailed and described as follows: Record in Item Record of support of Price paid Number Equipment Witness testifying price paid for stolen in Exhibit witness for stolen item 300 item ¹

1 The witness Larry Gravil indicated that he purchased this item for "$11,500 or $12,000" (Vol. VII, page 30). The Court will construe the ambiguity in favor of the defendant and adopts the lower figure of $11,500.

2 New Holland TC40 Dan Vol. V Vol. V $10,000.00 w/loader G505954 Schumer Pages 130- Pages 138 — 200 139 11 New Holland TC40 Bill Reef Vol. VI Vol. VI $11,000.00 G500556 Pages 2 — 28 Pages 5 — 6, 13 — 14 15 Case Uniloader Sonny Vol. VI Vol. VI $6,000.00 Model 75XT Simpson Pages 90 — Pages 104 — JAF0297428 180 105 18 New Holland TN 75 Larry Vol. VII Vol. VII $11,500.00 1189759 Gravil Pages 27 — Page 30, 97 115 19 New Holland TC45 Sonny Vol. VI Vol. VII $12,000.00 tractor with loader Simpson Page 90 — Page 120, backhoe 180 122 — 125 G507491 20 John Deere 5310 Max Vol. VI Vol. VI $11,000.00 LV5310S430091 Morris Pages 56 — Page 69 89 26 John Deere 6310 Joe Vol. VI Vol. VI $22,000.00 L06310V295067 Tabor Pages 28 — Pages 38 — 40 56 27 John Deere 6410 William Vol. VI Vol. VII $25,000.00 L06410V313428 Wilson Pages 181 — Pages 4 — 7 189 Vol. VII 28 Arctic Cat ATV 500 William Vol. VI Vol. VII $3,000.00 4UF02ATV32T212 Wilson Pages 181 — Pages 5, 9, 005 184 12 — 15 Vol. VII 29 Arctic Cat ATV 500 Larry Vol. VII Vol. VII $1,500.00 4UF02ATVX2T210 Gravil Pages 27 — Pages 37 — 106 115 40, 46, 48 30 Arctic Cat ATV400 Donald Vol. VII Vol. VII $3,000.00 4UF02ATV72T209 Hudson Pages 121 — Pages 122 — 138 132 125 32 Green Max II 600T Donald Vol. VII Vol. VII $2,200.00 Six Wheel ATV Hudson Pages 121 — Pages 122 — 18032 132 126 35 DynaMOW lawn Larry Vol. VII Vol. VII $3,000.00 tractor Gravil Pages 27 — Pages 37 — CKAW23-212 115 40, 46, 48 42 John Deere 6420 Larry Vol. VII Vol. VII $23,000.00 L06420P341072 Gravil Pages 27 — Pages 54 — 56 115 43 John Deere 6310 Larry Vol. VII Vol. VII $24,000.00 L06310V282678 Gravil Pages 27 — Pages 61 — 115 62, 70 — 71 44 John Deere 6310 Chris Vol. VII Vol. VII $25,000.00 L06310V230779 Davis Pages 133 — Pages 137, 157 146 45 John Deere 6420 Elbert Vol. VII Vol. VII $25,000.00 L06420V334377 Ray Pages 222 — Pages 224, Jones 240 226, 229, 233 46 John Deere 6420 Donald Vol. VII Vol. VII $25,000.00 L06420V338532 Sullivan Pages 185 — Pages 191 — 213 194 TOTAL $263,200.00 47 — 48 John Deere 5520 Timmy Vol. VII Vol. VII $20,000.00 LV5520S151168 Davis Pages 157 — Pages 167, 185 171 — 172 John Deere Gator W006X4X059372 The Court therefore finds that the amount to be forfeited pursuant to Count 27 are United States funds in the amount of $263,200.00. However, since the proceeds described in Counts 28 through 30 are also included within the same transactions described in Count 27, the Court will order a total amount of proceeds to be forfeited of $263,200.00.

A monetary forfeiture judgment is entered in favor of the United States and against defendant Daniel Wayne Stark, Sr. in the amount of $263,200.00. Said judgment may be enforced 1) as an ordinary monetary judgment, 2) by, where appropriate, the forfeiture of substitute assets, or 3) by a combination of both, as long as double recovery is not obtained by the government.

Said forfeiture judgment for $263,200.00 is separate from and in addition to any judgment for restitution to be entered by this Court and is enforceable above and beyond any said judgment for restitution.

In that the forfeiture consists of a money judgment, it is not necessary for the United States to publish or provide notice or for the Court to conduct an ancillary hearing.

Upon sentencing, this Order for Forfeiture will become final with respect to defendant Daniel Wayne Stark, Sr. and will be made part of his sentence and shall be included in his judgement.

IT IS SO ORDERED.