Originally from Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States, Third Edition
§ 15-1 Overview
Part III of this book deals with criminal forfeiture. Chapters 16 through 24 canvas criminal forfeiture procedure in detail, beginning with the indictment and the pretrial restraint of property and concluding with the issues that arise in the post-trial ancillary proceeding in which the rights of third parties are adjudicated. In short, those chapters take the reader through a criminal case in more or less chronological fashion, discussing the myriad of issues that arise along the way.
This chapter, in contrast, introduces criminal forfeiture as a concept. It serves as a bridge between the brief introductory comments regarding criminal forfeiture in § 1-4(b) of Chapter 1 and the detailed discussion of practice and procedure in the remainder of Part III. It begins with the defining notion that criminal forfeiture is part of the sentence in a criminal case, and then provides a series of illustrations of how that principle is manifested in the procedural rules and strategic choices that confront the prosecutor in a typical case.
The examples provided in this chapter are intended only to illustrate the basic principle that criminal forfeiture is part of the defendant’s sentence. I make no attempt at this point to discuss all of the details, nuances and exceptions that apply to many of the general points made below. Where appropriate, a cross-reference to the chapter containing a more complete discussion of the point discussed in the example is provided for the convenience of the reader.
Stefan D. Cassella, as a federal prosecutor, was one of the federal government's leading experts on asset forfeiture law for over thirty years, and now serves as an expert witness and consultant to law enforcement agencies and the financial sector as the CEO of AssetForfeitureLaw, LLC.