April 13, 2011 in Idaho

CdA drug trafficker’s seized assets help police

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Betsy Russell photo

U.S. Attorney for Idaho Wendy Olson speaks at a news conference in Boise on Wednesday to present proceeds from a Coeur d’Alene drug trafficker’s seized assets to the Idaho State Police and Coeur d’Alene Police Department. To the right of Olson is Col. Jerry Russell, ISP director; to the left is IRS Assistant Special Agent in Charge Lilia Ruiz.
(Full-size photo)

BOISE - Former Coeur d’Alene gold and coin dealer Robert Leon Mertens is serving a 37-year term in federal prison for drug trafficking, firearms violations and money laundering - he’s been behind bars since 2004 - but his case brought good news to law enforcement agencies in Idaho on Wednesday.

That’s because after seven years, all appeals and asset forfeiture proceedings in the case have been completed, so the Idaho State Police got a check for $456,446 and the Coeur d’Alene Police Department for $18,630 as their shares.

Mertens was convicted in 2004 on 11 federal charges, including selling cocaine, marijuana and heroin at locations including a Sagle flea market, and laundering the money through his Coeur d’Alene business, Northwest Coin and Jewelry.

His upscale homes in Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint were seized, along with other assets determined to have been acquired with drug money, including $1.2 million in gold and silver coins and precious metals. Federal authorities took that stash by armored truck to Southern California and auctioned it off as part of the asset forfeiture process, drawing interest from collectors around the world.

“The investigation, prosecution and conviction of Robert Mertens was a success on many levels,” U.S. Attorney for Idaho Wendy J. Olson said Wednesday. “A drug trafficker who was harming Idahoans was removed from the community and received a lengthy prison sentence; through the financial investigation and forfeiture proceedings he was stripped of his ill-gotten gains, and through today’s equitable sharing of the proceeds of the forfeiture, we are able to financially reimburse and reinvigorate our state and local law enforcement partners.”

The Coeur d’Alene Police plan to use their share of the forfeited assets to boost future drug-enforcement efforts, said Sgt. Christie Wood.

For the ISP, which is facing a big budget crunch, the long-awaited payment will be enough to replace aging radios for its investigations division; the current system is more than 20 years old. “It’ll be extremely helpful,” said Col. Jerry Russell, ISP director. Still awaiting funding: radio replacements for the patrol division, which would cost $2.3 million, and for which there’s still no funding source. But Russell said getting the investigations radios is “certainly a good start,” and said, “It couldn’t come at a better time.”

Mertens repeatedly claimed he was a victim of “corrupt” government officials and prosecutors, and advanced various conspiracy theories to explain his crimes.

A federal jury found that from 1995 to 2003, he regularly sold drugs from his Coeur d’Alene business, his homes in Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint, and a flea market in Sagle. Sometimes he traded drugs for guns or jewelry.

He also was convicted of federal firearms violations, including being a felon in possession of guns and brandishing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

Eight comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  Kivaari on April 13 at 10:30 a.m.

  Now the pro-drug crowd will say cops only do this for the moeny. Was he another “typical” medical marijuana dealer?

• 

  healinhand on April 13 at 10:51 a.m.

  Kivaari,

  Hopefully you will never have to suffer pain that requires the use of medical marijuana….
  Get a life.

• 

  de3 on April 13 at 11:31 a.m.

  A long time ago, in another county, I sat in a Sheriff’s department meeting (not open to the public) where the undersheriff boasted they targeted certain drug criminals so they could seize their assets. The priority was based on the druggie having a Ferrari that the Sheriff wanted to have for their D.A.R.E. drug abuse prevention program, and a trailer that he wanted to use for an disaster operations command post. He got both as seized and forfeited assets.

  I have seen other examples, including in this county, where priorities were set by revenue.

  A better solution would be for the assets to go to the State’s general fund and not be used specifically for law enforcement.

• 

  selkirk on April 13 at 12:39 p.m.

  Kivaari - a “typical” marijuana dealer does not deal in cocaine or heroin. You are a complete idiot and you think you are the “man” just because you were the man.

  healinhand has it right…. Get a life!!!

• 

  greenlibertarian on April 13 at 1:00 p.m.

  The government doesn’t even have to get a conviction in order to seize assets.

  This is pure armed robbery by the government. Quite a racket, too, DESIGNED to encourage corruption and graft. Sickmaking.

• 

  force_vector on April 13 at 3:18 p.m.

  “suffer pain that requires the use of medical marijuana….”

  Requires? Is that what dope is now? A requirement? Give me a break.

• 

  hhuseland on April 13 at 7:25 p.m.

  I’m not going to find a side issue here, but the principle of targeting for revenue is corrupt, just as other crimes are. Just because the law was passed, (for a different reason) doesn’t justify arrests and seizure for profit. We need as solution such as de3 suggests maes sense.

• 

  DemoDriver on April 14 at 4:38 p.m.

  Agreed with de3: monies gained from asset forfeiture rightfully belong in the general fund, NOT specifically to law enforcement.

  We should also change the standard for return of said assets: that same should automatically be returned to the defendant immediately upon acquittal at trial. No excuses. No “state of washington vs 1988 Yugo” on the dockets for example.

  As it stands now, it’s nearly impossible for an innocent person to get his/her seized property returned, and all too often plea deals are made around “voluntary” forfeiture of personal assets.

  A man’s property deserves the same presumption of innocence as the man himself, and it’s past time our legal system reflected that.