FBI steals robbery victims' life savings

It's ironic that a government that won't regulate Big Business has no objection to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from hard-working individuals.

In Lima, Ohio, a 63-year-old man and his wife spent their lives toiling relentlessly to save up for the future. They lived modestly and saved over $400,000 which they kept in a safe at home.

This past summer, 2 robbers broke into their house and stabbed the retired foundry worker's son. But the retiree shot one of the robbers to death. He wasn't charged with killing the robber, because it was self-defense, and he was cleared of any wrongdoing for the shooting.

But Lima Police found something they thought was far more of a threat than the armed robbery. They found marijuana in the home. The robbery victim took marijuana to alleviate pain caused by arthritis, shingles, and a hip replacement. Although the herb was clearly used for medical purposes, police promptly seized the $400,000 the man had worked for his whole life.

Then the FBI took the $400,000 from the city police!

No trial, no nothing. A man is out his whole life savings even though he wasn't even charged or convicted of a crime!

Once the FBI takes money or property from someone caught with even a small amount of marijuana, the seized cash or items are usually gone for good, even if no trial or conviction ever happens. I call that theft.

The FBI is just assuming the man got his $400,000 by selling marijuana. And the laws are so draconian that the burden of proof has shifted from the government to the person who has their money seized. According to the Constitution, you're supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. But right-wing forfeiture laws have placed the burden on the accused to prove their innocence.

In other words, in order to get his $400,000 back, the victim of the robbery has to go to court to prove he didn't sell marijuana - or he has to provide dated receipts he got from his workplace going back his entire life.

A lifetime of hard work, gone. What lesson is the FBI teaching by seizing someone's life savings without even charging them with anything? Is this any way for the government to treat a 63-year-old arthritis patient?

(Source: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=47047j)