City, DA’s office split nearly $40K
Nearly $40,000 in cash and assets held in legal limbo for two years have been forfeited to the city of McMinnville and District Attorney General’s office.
The money in question was seized during the raid of Mi Pueblo in the Skyline neighborhood on Feb. 25, 2002. The owner of the convenience store, Rogelio Cruz Vasquez, was arrested on charges he was illegally selling beer and liquor without a license. He was later convicted on money laundering charges and required to serve 360 days of an eight-year sentence. He is now serving a three-year sentence in federal prison for illegal immigration. He will be deported back to Mexico after serving his prison time.
Vasquez, who traveled under 11 different aliases which lawmen know of, was convicted on the money laundering charges after investigators discovered large sums of cash had circulated through the suspect’s bank accounts. Lawmen maintained Vasquez used the accounts to launder “dirty money” made through his illegal enterprises.
Among assets seized by lawmen during and after the raid was $36,914 cash, two banks accounts with less than $500 each, and a Ford pickup truck. While the assets were seized immediately after the raid, Vasquez’s attorney, Scott Horton, was granted a court restraining order preventing local and state officials from claiming the money. However, the restraining order was recently dissolved and a summary judgment awarded to the prosecutors.
The judgment means the city of McMinnville and District Attorney General’s office will split the proceeds. That gives both a little under $20,000 to be placed into their general funds.
The alcohol drinkers of the county will be sad to learn the 60 cases of Budweiser beer and numerous cases of liquor found during the raid will be destroyed. Unlike vehicles and guns confiscated during drug raids, state law says seized alcohol cannot be auctioned off or re-sold.