CA9: Professional gamblers’ case against DEA agent who allegedly lied to seize gambling proceeds saying it was drug proceeds could proceed where plaintiffs lived, not where the cash was seized

A couple who were two professional poker players were searched in San Juan finding their “traveling bank” and winnings and records of travel and winnings for tax purposes. They were completely up-front about what they were doing. When they got to Atlanta to change planes flying to Las Vegas, where they obviously spent a lot of time, their $97,000 was seized by the DEA on an ostensibly false affidavit that they were involved in drugs even though there was no factual basis for such a claim whatsoever. Seven months after the money was seized it was finally returned after they refused to sign a release of liability for the government agents involved in the seizure. The DEA officer in ATL could be sued in Las Vegas, considering that most of his career there has been interdicting people he knows were passing through. This case was purely a jurisdiction issue since there clearly was a question for the jury on the officer’s false statement in the affidavit for seizure of the cash. Fiore v. Walden, 657 F.3d 838 (9th Cir. 2011)*:

Walden seized all of the large amount of money Fiore and Gipson were carrying with them as they travelled from San Juan to Las Vegas via Atlanta. Although Fiore and Gipson sent Walden, from Nevada, documentation establishing the legitimate sources of their funds, he persisted in seeking forfeiture of their money. Walden’s intentional acts with regard to the false probable cause affidavit and the consequent delay in returning their money were expressly aimed at Nevada and so satisfy the requirements for personal jurisdiction. As to the search and seizure claim, we are remanding it to the district court for the exercise of discretion with regard to pendent personal jurisdiction. We also hold that venue is proper in the District of Nevada.

[I had a case like this once in pre-TSA times where the DEA officer lied in a search warrant affidavit for the traveler’s briefcase that it was drug money pointing out that he was sweating unusually (omitting that he weighed 350 lbs, it was 98º outside that day, and he told the officer he had congestive heart disease and literally carried a towel because he always sweat in the summer) and that he paid cash for his plane ticket (back then, the credit card was imprinted on the ticket and this was) to show probable cause. The guy showed the officer a withdrawal ticket showing that he took $160,000 out of a bank two hours before he was stopped. The client was a professional bookie from Las Vegas with a bank account here. We got the money back the next day after I sued in federal court. When the judge started asking questions at the hearing, the government offered it back, starting at 50-50. The client laughed in the AUSA’s face. That was twenty years ago. The point being: What lengths will DEA agents go to seize cash? Apparently some are willing to lie under oath.]