Commonwealth v. Fidelity Bank Accounts

631 A.2d 710, 158 Pa. Commw. 109, 1993 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 530
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 23, 1993
Docket2556, 2557, 2558 C.D. 1991
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 631 A.2d 710 (Commonwealth v. Fidelity Bank Accounts) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Fidelity Bank Accounts, 631 A.2d 710, 158 Pa. Commw. 109, 1993 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 530 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

FRIEDMAN, Judge.

Margie Carr, Maynetta Yeiser and John Hadley appeal from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia which granted numerous petitions filed by the Commonwealth to forfeit property and ordered that the property in question *113 be transferred to the District Attorney of Philadelphia. 1 We affirm in part and vacate and remand in part.

That property subject to the Commonwealth’s forfeiture petitions consisted of real estate, five automobiles, bank accounts and certificates of deposit, cash, numerous life insurance policies and various other items of personal property including jewelry, furs, camera equipment and electronics equipment. 2 The Honorable Francis Biunno, sitting without a jury, 3 conducted a hearing in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia from October 9, 1990 to October 17, 1990. The Commonwealth presented the testimony of various witnesses and introduced over 160 exhibits. Carr, Yeiser and Hadley introduced no evidence except information concerning Clarence Carr’s pension.

The Commonwealth’s evidence, which was believed by the trial court, showed that Carr, Yeiser, Hadley 4 and numerous members of their extended family conducted an extensive operation, selling a cornucopia of drugs from a house owned by Clarence Carr and Margie Carr and located at 1242 S. 20th Street in the City of Philadelphia. The Commonwealth offered testimony in which witnesses described lines of individu *114 als waiting on the sidewalk to gain admittance to the houses 5 to purchase drugs illegally. Needless to say, that evidence tied Carr, Yeiser and Hadley, as well as numerous other family members, to the illegal drug trafficking operation. The trial court made the following relevant findings of fact:

1. The structure at 1242 S. 20th Street in Philadelphia is, by all outward appearances, a row house. It is not a storefront or commercial property.
2. The traffic of people in and out of the house at 1242 S. 20th Street has been constant and heavy since 1981. Twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week, people go into the house, stay a minute or two, and leave. The flow ranges from a dozen or so per hour to seventy-five per hour----
3. During this period, the house at 1242 S. 20th Street was owned by Clarence Carr. He sold the house on October 22, 1988 to his wife, Margie Carr, for one dollar----
4. On numerous occasions, police have seized jars full of codeine syrup and pills from people exiting 1242 S. 20th Street..
5. On numerous occasions, police have seized illegal pills, codeine syrup, marijuana, and cocaine in and around the house at 1242 S. 20th Street____
6. On numerous occasions, undercover police have purchased pills, codeine syrup, marijuana, and cocaine in and around 1242 S. 20th Street____
7. In just over six years (May 1983 — June 1989), police have purchased or seized drugs eighteen times inside 1242 S. 20th Street____
8. Pharmaceuticals sold illegally from 1242 S. 20th Street came, in part, from Milicia Pharmacy in South Philadelphia. The drugs were purchased at the pharmacy by Maynetta [Yeiser], her husband, John Hadley, and her sister Linda Carr. They bought nine thousand dollars in pills and syrup from the pharmacy each week for six years. *115 They always paid cash for their nine thousand dollar purchase (sic)----
9. From 1983 to 1989, various members of the Carr family repeatedly sold or helped in the continuous sale of illegal drugs. Activities which aided the sale of drugs included purchasing drugs from pharmacies, resupplying the sales house from the ‘stash’ house, secreting supplies of drugs or cash, acting as a lookout or doorkeeper, directing customers, and cutting and packaging drugs. The family members involved spanned three generations, including Clarence Carr, ... Margie Carr, ... John Hadley, ... Maynetta [Yeiser], ... Linda Carr, ... Richard Carr, ... Lonnie Carr, ... Silas Carr, ... Nokia Carr, ... Gary Yeiser, ... and Karen Yeiser. ... Drug sales from 1242 S. 20th Street were controlled and operated by the Carr family.
10. To avoid police seizure, drug supplies and proceeds were stored away from 1242 S. 20th Street. Money and other valuables received as drug proceeds were hidden at 1239 S. 20th Street and drugs were stored at 1241 S. 20th Street----
11. After police searched these three houses in 1988, the hiding locations changed. Drug proceeds were then secreted at 1429 S. 18th Street and drugs were stored at 1927 Latonia Street, 2017 Mantón Street and 1241 S. 20th Street—
12. When the house at 1242 S. 20th Street was sealed by court order in June, 1989, the sales location shifted to 2035 Wharton Street but trafficking continued just the same. Real estate titles were transferred for one dollar to hide their true ownership. Certificates of deposit were also closed to prevent seizure....
13. The family used rented cars, borrowed cars, and many of their own cars to ferry drugs and money between the various houses____
14. The family drug sales operation produced over one million dollars per year in profit from the sale of illegal *116 pharmaceuticals alone not including profits from marijuana and cocaine....
15. During the 1980s, members of the family invested money in certificates of deposit, savings and checking accounts, and life insurance and annuity policies. They also purchased houses, cars, furs, jewelry, electronics and camera equipment, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in other consumer items.
16. During this period, the family spent more than $450,000 to buy pharmaceuticals from one pharmacy. This does not include the cost of the marijuana, cocaine, and drugs purchased from other pharmacies....
17. The only evidence of legitimate income for the two main claimants, John Hadley and Maynetta [Yeiser], is rental payments. Subtracting the money spent on property repairs, these two claimants had no income and suffered a thirty thousand dollar loss over four years____
18. The only evidence of legitimate income for the third claimant, Margie Carr, is that Clarence Carr had a pension which paid less than ten thousand dollars per year----
19. There was no evidence of legitimate funding for any of the assets claimed by Maynetta [Yeiser] and John Hadley for themselves or their children....
20.

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631 A.2d 710, 158 Pa. Commw. 109, 1993 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 530, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-fidelity-bank-accounts-pacommwct-1993.