KANSAS CITY, Mo. – United States Attorney Tammy Dickinson announced
today that the Western District of Missouri collected more than $26.5
million in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2013. Of this
amount, more than $14.8 million was collected in criminal actions, more
than $6.2 million was collected in civil actions and nearly $5.5 million
was collected through the seizure of assets that were forfeited to the
government.
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US v. Sheffler, et al. : $3.8 million
As an example of FY 2013 collections, an Independence, Mo., business owner and a Wichita, Kan., attorney were among 18 defendants indicted in a more than $17 million, multi-state conspiracy to transport hundreds of thousands of cartons of contraband cigarettes from the Kansas City, Mo., area to the state of New York, where they allegedly were sold primarily on Indian reservations. In addition to the federal indictment, an undercover operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives resulted in a $3.5 million civil forfeiture and a non-prosecution agreement that requires a Winnebago, Neb. company to pay a $300,000 penalty.
Following the seizures that occurred as a result of the investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office started a civil forfeiture case naming the assets taken up to that point. On Oct. 23, 2012, the court entered a default order of forfeiture for more than $2 million seized from bank accounts and by agents, more than 300 cases of seized cigarettes, a 2009 Cessna T206H Stationair aircraft, two 2012 Peterbilt 389 trucks and two 2012 Peterbilt 386 trucks. The seized cigarettes have been sold at auction for $532,500. The 2009 Cessna Aircraft has been sold for $450,000. The four trucks have been sold for the following amounts: $115,000; $115,000; $113,000; and $113,000. The civil case has been stayed pending the resolution of the criminal case.
