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(1) by striking out "law enforcement purposes-" in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) in paragraph (1) and inserting “purposes—”;

(2) by redesignating the final 3 subparagraphs in paragraph (1) as subparagraphs (I), (J), and (K), respectively;

(3) by inserting after subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) the following new subparagraph:

"(II) payment of court-awarded compensation for representation of claimants pursuant to section 608(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930;"; and

(4) by striking out “(H)" in subparagraph (A)

of paragraph (9) and inserting “(I)".

14 SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION REGARDING FORFEITURES UNDER

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THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.

(a) IN GENERAL.-Section 511(a) of the Controlled 17 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 881(a)) is amended

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(1) in paragraph (4)(C), by striking "without the knowledge, consent, or willful blindness of the owner." and inserting "either without the knowledge of that owner or without the consent of that owner." (2) in each of paragraphs (6) and (7), by striking without the knowledge or consent of that owner." and inserting "either without the knowledge

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of that owner or without the consent of that

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(b) SPECIAL RULE.

(1) GENERALLY.-Section 511 of the Con

trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 881) is amended

by adding at the end the following:

"(1) For the purposes of this section, property shall 8 not be considered to have been used for a proscribed use 9 without the knowledge or without the consent of the owner 10 of an interest in that property, if that owner was wilfully 11 blind to, or has failed to take reasonable steps to prevent, 12 the proscribed use.".

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(2) CONFORMING TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.— The subsection (1) of section 511 that relates to an agreement between the Attorney General and the

Postal Service is redesignated as subsection (k).

17 SEC. 9. APPLICABILITY.

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The amendments made by this Act apply with respect

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Mr. HYDE. This morning, we will begin with testimony about personal experiences with civil asset forfeiture. First, Mr. Willie Jones, a landscaper from Nashville, TN, will talk about his several-year struggle to get the Drug Enforcement Administration to return money they had seized from him simply because he met a drug courier profile.

Second, we will hear from Mr. King Cutkomp of Rock Island, IL, who will tell the story of his mother's experience of civil asset forfeiture.

And finally, on the first panel, Stephen Komie, secretary of the Illinois State Bar Association, is here to describe the cases of several of his clients who have been caught up in civil asset forfeiture. Would Mr. Komie, Mr. Cutkomp and Mr. Jones come to the table.

Good morning, Mr. Jones. If you don't mind, I would like to start out with you. If you would tell us your story about your encounter with this issue, we would appreciate it.

Mr. JONES. Good morning.

Mr. HYDE. Would you help with the microphone. If you just push that little lever and pull that close to you. Very well. Thank you,

Mr. Jones.

Would you please state your name and where you live.

Mr. JONES. My name is Willie Jones. I live in Nashville, Ten

nessee.

Mr. HYDE. Very well, sir. Would you tell us your story involving asset forfeiture.

STATEMENT OF WILLIE JONES

Mr. JONES. Yes. On February 27, 1991, I went to the Metro Airport to board a plane for Houston, TX, to buy nursery stock. I was stopped in the airport after paying cash for my ticket.

Mr. HYDE. What business are you engaged in or were you engaged in?

Mr. JONES. I am engaged in landscaping.

Mr. HYDE. Landscaping. You were on your way to buy some nursery stock?

Mr. JONES. That's correct.

Mr. HYDE. All right, sir. So you arrived at the airport. Then what happened?

Mr. JONES. I paid cash for a round-trip ticket to Houston, TX, and I was detained at the ticket agent. The lady said no one ever paid cash for a ticket. And as I went to the gate, which was gate 6, to board the plane, at that time three officers came up to me and called me by my name, and asked if they could have a word with me, and told me that they had reason to believe that I was carrying currency, had a large amount of currency, drugs. So at that time

Mr. HYDE. Proceeds of a drug transaction; you had money that was drug money then, that's what they charged you with?

Mr. JONES. Yes, sir.

Mr. HYDE. Were you carrying a large amount of cash?

Mr. JONES. Yes, sir. I had $9,000.

Mr. HYDE. $9,000 in cash. Why was that, sir? Was your business a cash business?

Mr. JONES. Well, it was going to be if I had found the shrubbery that I liked, by me being-going out of town, and the nursery business is kind of like the cattle business. You can always do better with cash money.

Mr. HYDE. They would rather be paid in cash than a check, especially since you are from out of town?

Mr. JONES. That is correct.

Mr. HYDE. All right. So you had $9,000 in cash, and these three officers have gotten you off to the side, and they had suggested that this money was drug money; is that right?

Mr. JONES. That is correct.

Mr. HYDE. Then what happened?

Mr. JONES. Well, at that time, they took the money and they asked me to go with them, and I questioned them about going where. And they said-they told me not to worry about that, just come on, let's go.

Mr. HYDE. Did you tell them what you were about, where you were going and for what purpose?

Mr. JONES. I did. I also presented them with a business card. At that time, I was carrying a checkbook with my name and my busi

ness name.

Mr. HYDE. What police were these; do you remember? With what force were they associated?

Mr. JONES. It was DEA.

Mr. HYDE. Drug Enforcement Administration people?

Mr. JONES. Yes, sir.

Mr. HYDE. OK. Then what happened?

Mr. JONES. So we proceeded to go out of the airport, which they had a little building out across the terminal. We went there. And at that time, I was questioned about had I ever been involved in any drug-related activity, and I told them, no, I had not.

So they told me I might as well tell the truth because they was going to find out anyway. So they ran it through on the computer after I presented my driver's license to them, which everything was-I had-it was all in my name. And he ran it through the computer, and one officer told the other one, saying, he is clean. But instead, they said that the dogs hit on the money. So they told me at that time they was going to confiscate the money.

Mr. HYDE. They determined from the dog's activities that there were traces of drugs on the money?

Mr. JONES. That is what they said.

Mr. HYDE. That is what they claimed?

Mr. JONES. Yes, sir.

Mr. HYDE. Therefore, they kept the money?

Mr. JONES. They did keep the money.

Mr. HYDE. Did they let you go?

Mr. JONES. They did let me go.

Mr. HYDE. Were you charged with anything?

Mr. JONES. No. I asked them to, if they would, if they would count the money and give me a receipt for it. They refused to count the money, and they took the money and told me that I was free to go, that I could still go on to Texas if I wanted to; that the plane had not left.

Mr. HYDE. Of course, your money was gone. You had no point in going to Texas if you can't buy shrubs.

Mr. JONES. No.

Mr. HYDE. So did you ever get your money back?

Mr. JONES. I finally got my money back 21⁄2 years-some 22 years later.

Mr. HYDE. How did that happen?

Mr. JONES. But at the same time, I left the-after they told me I was free to go, I left the airport, and I rode down the interstate for a while, and I got to thinking about what had happened, and I turned and went back to the airport because it just didn't sound right and didn't feel right.

I went back to the airport, and at this time they told me that I was one of the few to-that they had taken as much as $100,000 off of people and had let them go, and that they-that was the last place that they wanted to come back to. And I told them, I said, well, I don't really have anything to hide or anything to cover up, so I went back, and they told me at that time, again, I was definitely not going to get my money back, and they was not going to arrest me.

Mr. HYDE. So how did you get your money back?

Mr. JONES. Well, at that time I contacted my attorney, which is here, Mr. Edwards, and we started working on the case, because we had to actually sue the Government to

Mr. HYDE. Return your money?

Mr. JONES [continuing]. Get my money returned.

Mr. HYDE. So you filed a lawsuit; is that correct?

Mr. JONES. That is correct.

Mr. HYDE. And after 2 years, you got your money back?

Mr. JONES. Yes.

Mr. HYDE. Was that by court order?

Mr. JONES. That was by court order.

Mr. HYDE. Did you get any interest on the money?

Mr. JONES. No.

Mr. HYDE. So you lost 2 years of interest, plus the use of the funds, plus you had to hire an attorney and file a lawsuit.

Mr. JONES. That is correct.

Mr. HYDE. Is there anything that you wish to add to this, other than what you have told us?

Mr. JONES. Not really, I guess other than how easy it is an innocent person can get caught up into something like this. I was not aware at that particular time that we was going to have to go through all the different things we had to go through to just get the money back.

Mr. HYDE. Would you identify your attorney, or would you identify yourself, sir? Do you have anything to add, counsel? Congratulations on getting Mr. Jones' money back.

STATEMENT OF E.E. (BO) EDWARDS III, ESQ.

Mr. EDWARDS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am E.E. Edwards, better known as Bo Edwards. I am from Nashville and over the last several years have represented numerous people who have had the misfortune of having property seized. Mr. Jones, I would say,