$13M In Forfeiture Funds Back In Suffolk DA's Office Coffers: Tierney

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced Monday that the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office was recently notified that it would once again have access to about $13 million in forfeiture funds.

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury, in response to requests by the Tierney administration, with the assistance of Congressmen Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota, has notified the SCDA that it would be readmitted to federal Equitable Sharing Programs, resulting in the funding, Tierney said.

Upon taking office, Tierney said he learned that on September 11, 2020, then-DA Tim Sini received a subpoena as part of a federal investigation into the use of forfeiture program funds and "money laundering operations of the Sini administration, as well as that of the administration of former DA Thomas Spota."

Concurrent with the subpoena, on September 11, 2020, the SCDA was notified by DOJ that the SCDA was suspended from the DOJ’s Equitable Sharing program, Tierney said. Next, on September 21, 2020, the SCDA was notified by the Treasury Department that because of the federal investigation, the SCDA was suspended from the separate Treasury Department Equitable Sharing program, as well, Tierney said.

Following efforts to resolve the investigation by Tierney, with the assistance of Garbarino and LaLota, the SCDA was informed on February 28 that the DOJ had closed its investigation, the DA said.

The SCDA then applied for readmission to both Equitable Sharing Programs, "to secure this important law enforcement funding to protect the people of Suffolk County. As a result, the SCDA expects that approximately $13 million in funding will become available for law enforcement priorities," Tierney said.

"For the past four years, the people of Suffolk County have not been receiving this significant law enforcement funding due to the investigation of prior Suffolk DA administrations," Tierney said. "I applaud Attorney General Bondi for swiftly getting the Department of Justice and Treasury Department to readmit the Suffolk DA’s Office to these vital funding programs."

The funding, he said, will be used for the Gilgo homicide prosecution, "as well as fighting deadly fentanyl, human trafficking, gang activity, illegal firearms and all manner of criminal activity. I would also like to thank Congressmen Garbarino and LaLota for their tremendous assistance in helping to resolve this important issue for us in Washington," Tierney said.

"Restoring Suffolk County’s access to Equitable Sharing funding is a matter of public safety. These resources are critical to ensuring our law enforcement agencies have what they need to fight crime, prosecute major cases, and do their jobs effectively," said Garbarino. "I applaud the administration’s decision to readmit the District Attorney’s Office to these programs and was proud to work alongside District Attorney Tierney to help resolve this issue and secure the tools our prosecutors and investigators need to protect the people of Suffolk County."

"Accountability in government is essential to maintaining the trust and safety of our communities. The resolution of the Department of Justice’s investigation into the actions of previous administrations, along with the reinstatement of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in the federal Equitable Sharing Programs under District Attorney Tierney’s leadership, is a win for Suffolk County and law and order," LaLota said. "This decision restores Suffolk County’s access to critical federal resources that will bolster law enforcement efforts, enhance public safety, and keep Suffolk County families secure. I remain committed to ensuring our local law enforcement agencies have the tools and support they need to protect and serve our communities effectively."

Asset forfeiture is the taking of property by the government without compensation because of the property’s connection to criminal activity; it is a legal tool that enables the federal government to recover property that can be used to compensate victims of the crime underlying the forfeiture, among other important law enforcement interests, Tierney said.

The DA added that to keep the public safe, federal Equitable Sharing funding is commonly used for a variety of law enforcement functions, including:

● Purchasing equipment and conducting investigations into online crimes, such as Darkweb
drug dealing and child exploitation;
● Costs related to service animals;
● Translation and language services for victims;
● Technical equipment for locating missing persons;
● Setting up wire room facilities for court-ordered wiretaps into violent gang and drug
activity;
● Cold case DNA testing;
● Obtaining training for prosecutors and investigators on such topics as ethics, drug enterprises, child exploitation, financial crimes, elder abuse, gang intelligence, government corruption and environmental and hazmat crime scene training;
● Purchasing equipment to enhance intelligence gathering by investigators and to enhance prosecutions, including cameras and covert equipment;
● Purchasing equipment to upgrade and enhance the District Attorney’s technical services unit in the collection and analysis of digital evidence obtained from cell phones, computers, tablets and other electronic devices;
● Expenses for community drug prevention and various programs including literature, Naloxone, and child identification kits;
● Purchasing software and equipment to enhance prosecutions; and

● Paying subject-matter experts necessary to testify in prosecutions, including environmental crime scene experts, DNA laboratory experts, child trauma experts and geospatial and cell site analysis experts.

In October, Tierney said — after a court date for accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann — that the Suffolk County DA's office had "forfeiture money" totaling about $13 million that has been frozen as a "result of an investigation that occurred prior to my administration. . . Especially when you look at this volume of discovery, in light of the ridiculous New York State discovery laws, which we have to comply with, it's a money issue, it's a budgetary issue. So I would love to have that money and be able to use it to bring this case to a resolution."

Tierney said he would go to the Department of Justice "once again, hat in hand, and I will beg them, 'Please, give me this money so I can litigate this very significant serial killer case' and we'll see what our federal government tells me."

He did not elaborate on why the money had been frozen, except to say it was related to an issue with forfeiture practice; the money — garnered from previous, for example, drug cases —was frozen during the last administration on September 11, 2020.

The DOJ did not immediately return a request for comment on why the funds were frozen.

In March, at a press briefing after a court appearance for Heuermann, Tierney said that the Department of Justice had freed up $13 million in Suffolk County's forfeiture money, which will be used to pay for equipment, overtime, and other expenses in the case.