Orlando Asset Forfeiture Attorney
Under federal and state law, law enforcement needs very little evidence to seize your cash, bank accounts, car, jewelry, boat, gold or home and drag you through the asset forfeiture process. Dan knows because actually seized cash, bank accounts and other property when he was a Special Agent with U.S. Customs. Later, he worked in the Asset Forfeiture Division of the United States Attorney’s Office as an Assistant United States Attorney. He received extensive training from the Department of Justice on Basic and Advanced Asset Forfeiture, Basic and Advanced Money Laundering, the Bank Secrecy Act, and White-Collar Prosecutions. His asset forfeiture cases involved travel to Mexico, Ireland, Brazil, and the Netherlands to work with prosecutors and agents
Since becoming a defense attorney in 2017, he’s represented dozens of client’s whose cash, jewelry, cars, motorcycles, office buildings, boats, gold, cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Minero, Eurytherm), bank accounts, and homes have been seized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the State of Florida, DEA, Customs Border Protection, Homeland Security, or local police. What stuns most clients is that until the asset forfeiture proceedings are resolved, the government keeps your property, cash, or freezes your bank account.
While every case is different, Dan’s been able to get cash seized at airports returned, bank accounts unfrozen, jewelry seized at airports returned, cash seized during traffic stops returned, boats returned, trucks and cars returned and homes released from forfeiture. This being said, asset forfeiture proceedings are complex and there are few attorneys in the United States, let alone Florida with expertise defending asset forfeiture cases.
Asset forfeiture can be part of a federal or state prosecution action and requires the government to identify property used or derived from criminal proceeds. This can include real property, currency, bank accounts, cryptocurrency, vehicles, aircraft, jewelry, etc. If a criminal defendant proceeds to trial and is found guilty, the jury must determine whether the property is forfeitable before the court can issue and order of forfeiture. If a criminal defendant pleads guilty, there is the opportunity to negotiate what can be carved out of asset forfeiture as legitimate property or proceeds. With my expertise, I help to negotiate forfeiture matters before indictment as well as during the plea-bargaining process.
Both the federal and state government can also bring civil judicial forfeiture actions. The property is the “defendant” and under some circumstances, no criminal charges against you, the owner will be brought. Since 2017, Dan’s handled a number of civil asset forfeiture cases where cash is seized either at the airport or during a traffic stop. In some instances, no drugs were found and the client has no prior criminal history The burden of proof for federal civil forfeiture is a preponderance of evidence or more likely than not that what was seized is proceeds from crime. The burden of proof for Florida state civil forfeiture is “clear and convincing evidence” which higher than a preponderance of evidence but lower that “beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal forfeiture case.
However, when Florida law enforcement seizes cash the feds (DEA, Homeland Security, FBI) can adopt the case. Suddenly, your case is now a federal, and the burden is down to the lower preponderance of evidence standard. Administrative forfeiture permits federal law enforcement agencies to forfeit property and unless you make the proper election, the agency will decide the fate of your case.
Experience Matters in Asset Forfeiture
While there are hundreds of criminal defense lawyers in Florida, there are few if any that have the asset forfeiture experience Dan has. As an Assistant U. S. Attorney, he helped with the forfeiture of millions of dollars’ worth of homes, vessels, vehicles, currency, businesses, bank accounts and jewelry. He’s taken his experience from DOJ to the defense side and can help you with your asset forfeiture case. If your hard-earned cash or property has been seized, please e-mail Dan or give him a call at