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Friday, April 16, 2010
Ind. Law - "Indiana family's drug case spawns huge auction of confiscated items"
Pam Tharp of the Richmond PalladiumItem reported this long story, today carried in the Louisville Courier Journal. It begins:
BROOKVILLE, Ind. — The auction of items confiscated from a family accused of drug trafficking is expected to draw thousands of people to the Franklin County Fairgrounds on Saturday.Everything from meat saws and miter boxes to a Ford Mustang will go on the auction block to settle income and sales taxes owed to the state of Indiana.
“We've never had an auction like this,” said Brookville auctioneer Dave White, whose family has been in the auction business since 1922. “We've had huge sales before, but this is unusual. It's going to be an event.”
The sale by Franklin County Sheriff Dale Maxie will settle tax warrants issued by the Indiana Department of Revenue in January against Bill and Darlene Conn of Laurel. The state issued 10 warrants totaling about $800,000 against the couple for unpaid income and sales taxes dating to 2004, court documents show.
Indiana law allows the Department of Revenue to assess taxes on controlled substances that are delivered, possessed or manufactured. The total includes penalties and interest.
After the civil warrants are filed with the county clerk, the law gives the county sheriff 120 days to collect on tax warrants on behalf of the state, said Stephanie McFarland, Department of Revenue spokeswoman.
The sheriff has the legal authority to sell property at auction to collect on the warrants, McFarland said.
When authorities raided the Conns' property on Smokey Hollow Road in April 2009, they reported recovering hundreds of tools and other items believed to be stolen. State revenue agents catalogued items removed from the property, McFarland said. The department has made no estimate of their value, she said.
“The auction does that,” McFarland said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 16, 2010 10:08 AM
Posted to Indiana Law