charged with a crime, which is common in these types of cases, law enforcement officials say.The government declared the Volkswagen abandoned two years later. The General Services. Administration took bids, and Helen Chappell got an almost new car, which had been driven only 3,600 miles, for a little over $5,000.
Two months later, the car, broke down. When a mechanic the garage called the: DEA Special Agent Melton told him about the money Chappell said, and explained
'lined that the cash should be his free and clear.
" 'As the legal owner of that car, that be your money,"' Chappell said Melton told him. "'You bought the car as is.' He said, 'That's our mistake, and we missed it.'"
But Chris, Whitley, U.S. Attorney Hill's spokesman, said law enforcement agents don't have the authority to give that type of advice. "Whether he is right or wrong ... the courts will have to take care of those matters," Whitley said.
Jeffrey Chappell said he hurried to the garage, but the DEA agent was already gone. "They had already snatched the money by the time I got there," he said.
Federal law requires that the Chappells prove that they are the owners of the money or that the money "was not derived from any kind of criminal activity, or both," Whitley said. Then it is up to a judge to decide.
That requirement upsets Jeffrey Chappell.
"This country was not founded on the government being able to seize your property and requiring you to prove that you are innocent," Chappell said.