[Forwarded from the FEAR announcements list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, authored by John Paff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, FEAR secretary.] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: John Paff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: FEAR Request - help save family home Following is an article appearing in January 13th's Atlantic City Press, detailing the federal government's plan to forfeit a family's Atlantic City home--and dispossess 10 children--because a drug transaction was discussed there. According to Giovanni LoPresti, an advocate for the family's children, the government is claiming that the house "facilitated" a drug transaction because an 11-pound marijuana purchase was discussed there. The actual transaction, however, took place at another location. LoPresti is in favor of a law that would protect children from homelessness arising out of forfeiture cases. The government also claims title to the house as partial settlement of the parents' "consent" to a $4,000,000 fine/forfeiture. This contention is being appealed, because neither the parents nor their attorney were aware of the forfeiture provision until sentence was imposed. The father, Michael Antonelli, is serving a fifteen-year sentence in federal prison in Cumberland County, New Jersey, and will be eligible for parole in 2008. His wife, Diane, was sentenced to a six-month term served in her home. At present, the U.S. Marshalls are ready to remove the family from the home, but their action is stayed pending a hearing before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on January 29th. Mr. LoPresti requests that letters be written to the federal prosector, pressuring him to cease his attempt to take the family home. Write to: Thomas J. Maroney United States Attorney General Northern District of New York 231 James T. Foley Court House Albany, New York, 12207 and reference U.S. v. Michael Antonelli Anyone interested in learning more about the case, or who would like to offer help beyond letter writing, are encouraged to contact Mr. LoPresti at [EMAIL PROTECTED] John Paff, Secretary Forfeiture Endangers American Rights, Inc. -------------------------------------- Wednesday, January 13, 1999 A.C. family stands to lose home under forfeiture law Michael Antonelli is in prison in Cumberland County, guilty of conspiracy in a New York State drug-distribution ring. Diane Antonelli served six months of house arrest and is still on probation. By BRIAN HICKEY Staff Writer ATLANTIC CITY -- Being under house arrest wasn't the easiest way to live, but Diane Antonelli made do. That's what happens when you're a convicted drug offender. Talking to her husband through glass at a prison-visitation room isn't the way she envisioned spending her days, but the 40-year-old just accepted it as her new reality. But now, faced with the prospect of losing her North Massachusetts Avenue home under the government's property-forfeiture laws, she's frazzled. Sure, she's not the innocent victim of an uncaring system. The family's losing the house because she and her husband, Michael, are both convicted drug offenders. But still, they say, how can the U.S. Marshal's Service just come in and take a house that's been in their family for 20 years? They've unsuccessfully dived through numerous legalistic hoops, mailing countless letters looking for support. But support isn't easy to come by and the only thing that will keep them in the house past this weekend is a last-minute appeal. If that appeal fails, Deputy Marshal Dominick Russo, of the service's Newark office, will tell the family -- there are 10 children and stepchildren, but they don't all live there year round -- to get out of the $140,000 house already owned by the government. "This is not like the Gestapo here," Russo said. "She's trying to hold onto the house and I can understand her position but they were dealing drugs. "Before asset forfeiture, someone who stole $1 million would do five years in jail and have the money when they got out. This takes away the fruits of the crime." Diane Antonelli, however, sees it differently. "I'm going absolutely crazy here," Antonelli said. As she said that, Antonelli was sitting on the same couch where she told a family friend she would try to get the 11 pounds of marijuana he needed four years ago. He was wearing a wire and the authorities were listening. Antonelli's husband, currenlty held at the Fairton Federal Correctional Facility, isn't eligible for parole until 2008. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a New York State drug-distribution ring. Russo said he signed the house away in that plea agreement (Diane said he signed to save her from any jail time) but the Antonelli family is still fighting. Three of the children, a 17-year-old son, a 7-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, still call the Atlantic City house home. "All we want is our home back and not to be another victim of our own government's communist actions," wrote Mia Antonelli, 23, on behalf of the family children, ranging in age from 7 to 27. The national anti-forfeiture lobbying group Forfeiture Endangers Americans' Rights, or FEAR, has also noticed the case. "The government is putting children out on the street and they're doing it out of greed," said Tom Gordon, executive director of FEAR. "And, they'll get a nice chunk of change for their efforts." Forfeiture laws first came about in the 1970s and were strengthened with the war on drugs in 1984. The government has a right to start forfeiture proceedings against a family if they say their home or other property is a benefit of criminal activity. Antonelli said the house was not a fruit of any crime. Officials consider it a deterrent and reasonable punishment for criminals. Others see it as over-the-line and unconstitutional. In criminal cases, law enforcement must prove someone committed a crime. In forfeiture, the property owner has to convince a judge that the property wasn't used in the commission of crimes. On Oct. 30, a chief U.S. District Court judge denied the family's motion to have ownership transferred to the children so the family could keep ownership. But now, they await the outcome of another appeal. Despite the reprieve, beds and furniture have already been shipped out to storage. Saturday, Antonelli and her son sat on the ground watching Winnie the Pooh on a borrowed television. "This is ruining me. Mentally, I'm destroyed," she said of the process. "I'm living in limbo. This is no way to live." Antonelli said the plan now is to move back to Philadelphia and find a place near family and friends because she can't afford a new home. When asked if she's resigned to losing her home, she said, "Yeah, yeah. With everything else I've lost, there's no winning." But just minutes later, she rethinks her position. "I don't know, they just give me nothing but negativity," Antonelli said of the government. "I firmly belong here and that's why I'm standing my ground. There's nothing left, but I'm still sitting here." ---end
