Ares Armor has filed a suit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for a return of property seized during the March 15th raid on Ares Armor’s Oceanside location. Approximately 5800 unfinished AR-15 polymer lowers were confiscated during the raid. Reportedly, the BAFTE missed their initial deadlines under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, leading to the lawsuit. The entire suit can be read by clicking the image above.
Tags: Ares Armor
These are not being held as part of the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, they are being held as evidence in a criminal case. That is stated very clearly by the BATF in Exhibit D.
Im surprised that the attorney would file this case knowing that the criminal case is still pending, and it makes sense that these would be held as evidence.
You would have to see the totality of the documents. The only reason they abandoned their forfeiture is because they know they will lose. Also case law has shown that once CAFRA is initiated the “criminal court” loses jurisdiction over the property. They Initiated CAFRA and then attempted to rescind and change their story.
shit done got real :O
Good on you!
Demanding a Jury Trial. Excellent.
This is going to be very interesting. So they have exceeded the legal period of time for a civil forfeiture without initiating proceedings. But they then come back and say, “Well, we aren’t going to civilly seize your property BUT… Guess what? You can’t have it back because now it is evidence in a POTENTIAL criminal proceeding. Granted, we haven’t sought an indictment or done anything else but, you know, we might.”
If the Court allows that to stand, they could potentially keep the property until the Statute of Limitations (7 years for a Fed Crime I believe) runs. That would just be wrong.
Hadn’t thought of that. If it goes that way, the lawsuit that Ares Armor could drop would be sweet: The subpoenaed records would show there never was a basis for a criminal investigation, and that in this case, the “B” in BATFE stood for Butt-Hurt.
Not later than 90 days after a claim has been filed, the Government shall file a complaint for forfeiture in the manner set forth in the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims or return the property pending the filing of a complaint, except that a court in the district in which the complaint will be filed may extend the period for filing a complaint for good cause shown or upon agreement of the parties.
We fully expect the to try to say that forfeiture was not the intent and that “criminal investigation” is the intent. However, unfortunately for them, they seem to have forgotten that their lawyer stated in his declaration prior to raiding us that the intent was to forfeit the property. They filed this declaration with the court and it has been on record for months…
FANTASTIC DIMITRI!
You guys really need to get a kickstarter defense page set up. I’d donate to the cause in a heart beat.
Thanks for fighting the good fight, and for all the amazing products.
Awesome, Dimitri. Sounds like you have them coming and going. When this is all over, maybe you could send all of the persons who filed the original declaration a little souvenir: A very small version of the lower made out of the same plastic, in Red, to be used as a Christmas ornament. Of course, a miniature AA logo on one side of the mag well, and a serial number on the other…
Over-reach by ANY member of Law Enforcement is a serious breach of trust that’s given by the Public. Find their wrongdoings, point them out, and let Justice carry forth.
They get qualified immunity so they don’t give a shiiiiittttt.
Yes, let’s make this a law enforcement thing and not a few over zealous ATF guys thing!
Government Brownshirts at it again!