The Florida forfeiture statute allows the government to take the property of people when that property was used in conjunction with certain criminal activity or represents the proceeds of certain criminal activity. As an example, if the police arrest someone immediately after a drug transaction and the defendant is found…
Lasnetski Gihon Law recently represented a person who was traveling through Jacksonville on his way back from a nearby poker tournament. Having had some success at the poker tournament, he was bringing a large sum of cash back home with him. When he went through the security line at the…
In a recent case that was well publicized in Jacksonville and throughout Florida, state law enforcement officials made many arrests of people the state alleged were involved in illegal gambling operations. According to the state, the gambling operations involved internet cafes in cities across Florida and brought in millions in…
As we have discussed multiple times in the past, the Florida forfeiture laws give the state a lot of power to take property from people suspected of crimes and then institute forfeiture proceedings to keep that property. We have seen many cases where the state takes a person’s property, usually…
The Florida forfeiture laws allow the government, in the form of police, to seize property from people in many circumstances. When the police seize property, whether it is money, a vehicle, electronics, or anything else the police would like to have, they have to file paperwork with the court to…
As criminal defense lawyers in the Jacksonville and North Florida area, we have seen quite a few asset forfeiture cases lately. Asset forfeiture law is not technically criminal law, but it has a lot of similarities to it. A law firm that is familiar with search and seizure law and…
At Lasnetski Gihon Law in Jacksonville, Florida, we handle all varieties of criminal cases in state and federal courts in Jacksonville, North Florida throughout Florida and in Georgia. Forfeiture cases are not exactly criminal cases, and they are not exactly civil cases. While the civil rules largely apply to these…
The Florida Contraband Act allows the state to seize and forfeit any property that is used in any way to commit certain crimes or that represents proceeds from certain crimes. The forfeiture law certainly covers motor vehicles used to facilitate any crime referenced in the forfeiture statute. In a recent…
In Florida, police may seize money or other property from a suspect if they believe the money or property represents proceeds from drug or other illegal activity or is otherwise related to drug or other illegal activity. Many times, the seizure results from a routine traffic stop. For instance, in…
In a recent asset forfeiture case involving a client of the criminal defense and litigation law firm of Lasnetski Gihon Law, the state attorney’s office in South Florida agreed to return approximately $2.5 million of forfeited funds to the client, which constitute approximately 90% of the funds originally seized by…