United States v. Certain Real Property & Premises Known As 63-29 Trimble Road

812 F. Supp. 335, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21313, 1992 WL 441796
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 9, 1992
DocketNo. CV-88-1453
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 812 F. Supp. 335 (United States v. Certain Real Property & Premises Known As 63-29 Trimble Road) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Certain Real Property & Premises Known As 63-29 Trimble Road, 812 F. Supp. 335, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21313, 1992 WL 441796 (E.D.N.Y. 1992).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

GLASSER, District Judge:

This forfeiture action was brought pursuant to section 881(a)(7) of Title 21, United States Code, against the defendant premises. The complaint alleges that the premises, owned by claimants Juan Carlos Aldeco and Betty Aldeco, were used to facilitate trafficking in cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 et seq. For the reasons indicated below in the findings of fact and conclusions of law, this court holds that plaintiff carried its burden of proof at the bench trial, and orders that the defendant property be forfeited.

[336]*336 I. Findings of Fact

A. The investigation and trial of Betty Aldeco and Hugo Castro

The first testimony offered by the government was that of Ann Hayes, a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration in New York from 1984 to 1989. Hayes, who was employed in the DEA’s narcotics conspiracy group for this judicial district, attested to her personal involvement in an investigation into narcotics trafficking at the defendant premises.

Specifically, Hayes testified that in the summer of 1987, an informant named Archibald told the DEA that two residents of 63-29 Trimble Road — Betty Aldeco and her son Hugo Castro — were dealing in cocaine. On July 16, 1987 while working undercover, Hayes personally observed Castro selling one-eighth of a kilogram of cocaine to Archibald in an automobile. Tr. 16. On July 20, Hayes and Archibald went to the defendant premises to obtain a promised sample of heroin from Castro; on their arrival, Castro explained that he was unable to procure the sample, and the transaction was never consummated.

On November 12 of that same year, Hayes again accompanied Archibald to the residence, where she met Betty Aldeco. Hayes paid Aldeco $300 in satisfaction of a prior narcotics debt owed by Archibald. Tr. 17. On November 18, Hayes met Castro and his girlfriend Mila Bonilla at a Manhattan restaurant to discuss future cocaine transactions centering on Hayes’ supposed ability to arrange for delivery of the drugs through Miami via a relative employed by an airline. According to Hayes, at the end of a lengthy conversation Castro expressed strong interest in working out a mutually beneficial arrangement for distributing cocaine.

In April 1988, Hayes and other DEA agents formulated a plan to purchase two kilograms of cocaine from Castro. On April 13, Hayes and a second DEA agent met Castro at the house and went inside. While the agents waited in the living room, Castro went upstairs — where Juan Carlos and Betty Aldeco had their bedroom — and returned with a black camera bag containing two packages wrapped in duct tape. The agents then drove Castro to a hotel near LaGuardia Airport for the ostensible purpose of collecting the cash to be given as payment, at which point Castro was placed under arrest by other DEA agents. Tr. 19.

The government also offered the testimony of a second DEA agent, Stephen Mar-chini. Marchini testified that he conducted surveillance on the Trimble Road residence during the afternoon of April 13, 1988, where he observed Betty Aldeco, Juan Carlos Aldeco (her husband), and Castro and his girlfriend coming and going from the house in the period from 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Tr. 23-24. Marchini and other agents followed Special Agent Hayes to LaGuardia that evening, where they arrested Castro and seized the two packages, which later proved to contain cocaine. Tr. 24-25.

The agents then returned to Trimble Road to execute an arrest warrant for Betty Aldeco, who was not there. Marchini arrested Mila Bonilla as she attempted to exit the basement apartment. A subsequent consensual search of the basement turned up a metal box containing $5,000 in bundled currency. Tr. 26. Further investigation of the premises revealed a bundle of currency (approximately $5,490) lying on a table in the upstairs study.

As the agents prepared to leave the scene, a car driven by Juan Carlos Aldeco pulled up in front of the house. Marchini walked over to the passenger side, where he observed Betty Aldeco attempting to conceal a plastic bag underneath the car seat. Upon arresting Betty Aldeco, Mar-chini determined that the bag contained approximately $9,000 in currency. Tr. 27-28.

As Plaintiff’s Exhibit 1, the government offered a certified copy of the subsequent indictment charging Hugo Castro and Betty Aldeco with multiple counts of conspiracy to possess, and possession with intent to distribute, cocaine and heroin. Exhibit 2 is a copy of Castro’s March 17, 1989 judgment and conviction on all five counts charged in the indictment, pursuant to his [337]*337guilty plea. Exhibit 5 is the lengthy transcript of the trial resulting in Betty Alde-co’s conviction, as further attested by a copy of her March 17, 1989 judgment and conviction, received into evidence as Plaintiffs Exhibit 3.

B. The Aldecos’ Financial Involvement with Cimtech Corporation

The government elicited testimony from Andrew Jaskewicz, a certified public accountant, concerning the affairs of a certain Cimtech Corporation based in New Jersey. Jaskewicz testified that Hugo Castro hired him to serve as the corporation’s accountant in late 1987, shortly after the company was incorporated. He also testified that the person in charge of operations was Miguel Forero, husband of Betty Alde-co’s daughter Vivian Castro.

According to the corporate tax return Jaskewicz prepared for Cimtech for the period 9/9/87 to 8/31/88, Cimtech lost $47,-801 in its first year of business. Tr. 41 & Plaintiffs Exh. 7. Jaskewicz indicated that for a corporation of Cimtech’s size, this represented a substantial loss. He also indicated that Juan Carlos Aldeco attended a May 1988 meeting along with Jaskewicz and other persons involved with Cimtech’s operation, and that Aldeco expressed a strong interest in seeing the corporation survive its financial difficulties.

Jaskewicz also testified, in reliance on Cimtech’s general ledger for the 1987-1988 year, that the Aldecos made loans to Cim-tech that year in excess of $159,000. Exhibit 8 (the ledger) shows that amount as the sum of various loans made by “B. Aldeco” and “Carlos”, whom Jaskewicz identified as the Aldecos. Tr. 42-43. That amount is confirmed by page 4, Schedule L, line 18 of Cimtech’s 1987-1988 tax return. Moreover, Cimtech’s general ledger for 1988-1989 shows additional loans from “Carlos” in excess of $2,000, making a total of over $161,000 in loans.

The government also called Kenneth Altman, a certified public accountant, as an expert on the subject of corporate financial records. Based upon an examination of Cimtech’s bank records and general ledger, Altman testified that for the period from November 1987 to May 1990, the Aldecos made direct cash loans to Cimtech of at least $89,000. Tr. 56. That number represents a minimum amount, as it does not account for the loans paid directly to Cim-tech’s creditors and does not include certain bank deposits for which the check/ cash breakdown was unspecified. Tr. 56. According to Altman, the bank records and general ledger were fully consistent in reflecting these amounts, notwithstanding the unavailability of bank records for three months in 1988. Tr. 57.

Altman also provided an analysis of the Aldeco’s personal income tax returns for the years 1980-1989.

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812 F. Supp. 335, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21313, 1992 WL 441796, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-certain-real-property-premises-known-as-63-29-trimble-nyed-1992.