State of Connecticut v. Curtis Ryan Casso (2013)

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION RE MOTION FOR RETURN OF SEIZED PROPERTY

The defendant was convicted by guilty plea in a substitute information of one count of Possession of Narcotics with Intent to Sell, pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes Section 21a–277(b).  As part of the plea and disposition of this matter, a presentence investigation was ordered, pursuant to Connecticut Practice Book § 43–3.   The factual basis for the plea was that the defendant sold controlled substances for profit from his home in Cheshire, Connecticut.   As part of the investigation, “controlled” purchases of marijuana were made by law enforcement from the defendant within his home.   As part of the arrest and search of the defendant's residence, police seized marijuana, LSD, a digital scale, packaging material, proof of residence of the defendant and $1,840.00 in cash.   The defendant was sentenced by this Court to a period of incarceration followed by probation.

The Court finds that the dispositional facts upon which the defendant's conviction was based, as well as the evidence adduced at the post-judgment hearing on the defendant's motion for return of seized property, compel a finding that the $1,840.00 seized constitutes contraband as currency linked to illegal drug transactions.   The defendant's statements to law enforcement, testified to at the hearing, were essentially that he sold drugs to supplement his income.   The court does find the necessary nexus between the contraband and the crimes charged.

Accordingly, the defendant's motion for return of the monies seized is DENIED.   Pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes § 54–36a(c), the $1,840.00 cash seized is ordered forfeited to the state.

Vernon D. Oliver, Judge

Oliver, Vernon D., J.