Thu, Jul. 13, 2006
Millions are D.A.'s windfall
By Jeff Shields
Inquirer Staff Writer
The prosecutors and police officers marveled when Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor six weeks ago piled a table high with $2.7 million in cash confiscated in a gambling arrest.
No one present that day had ever seen such a fortune - perhaps the largest seizure of its kind in state history. It was equal to almost a quarter of Castor's annual budget.
But even more amazing than the windfall itself: Castor can decide how the money is spent without ever telling the public what he did with it.
It's a quirk of state law that has observers scratching their heads. New Jersey, for example, requires quarterly reports of such seized assets.
"I can't conceive of a justification to completely shield that money from public scrutiny," said Witold Walczak, the ACLU of Pennsylvania's legal director.
Castor - like every other district attorney in Pennsylvania - is only required to spend the proceeds of gambling investigations and other nondrug criminal cases for "law enforcement" purposes.
In drug arrests, specific rules govern how forfeited assets are used, and the proceeds are publicly accounted for. Reports show that cash has been used to finance everything from undercover investigations to local community antidrug programs.
Castor's seized gambling funds need only be audited by the Montgomery County controller, and Castor says the results will be kept confidential.
"My official position is, I don't see any mechanism in the law" to require public disclosure, Castor said.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office took the same position. Cathie Abookire, spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham, said, "It appears that it's not public information."
Former Montgomery County District Attorney Michael Marino, now county solicitor, said the top law enforcement official in the county doesn't need anyone to tell him how to spend forfeiture money.
Marino and his staff stopped using confiscated drug vehicles - including two Corvettes - to drive to and from work in 1988 after public criticism of the policy.
Despite refusing to release his most recent internal audit of nondrug funds, Castor let a reporter review it. "I don't want the public to think there's anything sneaky going on here," he said. Castor said he did not want to set a precedent by releasing it.
"Donations" accounted for nearly half of the relatively minuscule $80,752 in nondrug-forfeiture cash spent in the year ending June 30, 2005. His office seized $64,600 in nondrug money that fiscal year.
Castor said money went to groups such as the Police Athletic League, DARE, and anti-drunk-driving campaigns. He would not disclose a full list of the recipients and the size of individual donations.
He also spent nearly $15,000 on vehicles and $7,700 to fund state police patrols in Norristown.
Montgomery County Commissioner Ruth Damsker, a Democrat, said gambling proceeds should have the same disclosure requirements as drug money.
"I think somebody should have oversight - and taxpayers should have oversight," Damsker said of the Republican district attorney. "This is not a private cache of anyone."
Castor's $11 million annual budget is reviewed and must be approved by the commissioners.
Castor said he plans to use the $2.7 million to buy equipment that he would otherwise ask the commissioners to fund, and use the savings to hire more prosecutors.
The reason drug money is treated differently than cash and property seized from other criminal activity stems from the 1988 drug forfeiture law.
That law required district attorneys to provide annual audits of drug seizures to the attorney general, who compiles a public report, to discourage misuse of confiscated property.
Generally, forfeited drug funds go to train prosecutors and police, and to buy guns, cars, bulletproof vests, dogs and cameras for county detectives, the county correctional facility, sheriff's office and police departments, Castor said.
In 2005 Pennsylvania's district attorneys collected more than $24 million in drug-related assets, according to the attorney general. Proceeds are to be spent on drug investigations, drug abuse education, and witness protection.
New Jersey prosecutors must submit public reports quarterly that detail all of their forfeiture funds, drugs, gambling or otherwise, according to county prosecutors in Camden and Gloucester Counties.
In Pennsylvania, no such public report exists for money seized in gambling, prostitution or other nondrug cases.
The $2.7 million came from Joseph and John Mastronardo, Montgomery County bookmaking brothers who gave up efforts to recover the money when Castor threatened to arrest their family members.
Joseph, son-in-law of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, and John, a former Eagles draft pick, have agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor gambling charges.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inqu...ews/local/15025068.htm