CARS RETURNED AFTER SWEEP PROSTITUTION STING DEFENDANTS GET BREAK THIS TIME.Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer LANCASTER - All but five of the 30 cars, SUVs, pickup trucks and vans confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. in March during the first use of a city anti-prostitution ordinance have been returned to their owners. The vehicles' owners were allowed to retrieve their cars after paying impoundment An action taken by the president in which he or she proposes not to spend all or part of a sum of money appropriated by Congress. The current rules and procedures for impoundment were created by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C.A. fees of $500 to $1,000 rather than losing them at a public auction because the confiscations were Lancaster's first, a prosecutor said. ``Most of the defendants were shocked by the prospect of their car being taken,'' said Deputy District Attorney David Berger David Berger may refer to:
People whose vehicles are confiscated in future operations won't be as fortunate, Berger said. He said the public should be aware now that vehicles can be confiscated from people who solicit prostitutes. ``I believe the message has been sent from this first operation. Anyone who gets caught now really doesn't have much of a leg to stand on. There will not be any 'I didn't know' next time,'' Berger said. The five remaining vehicles could be sold at auction or city officials could decide to keep them for municipal use. No auction date has been set. Of the 32 men - including two California State Prison-Los Angeles County correctional officers - who were arrested in the March 19 sting in front of Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling motels, about a half-dozen are awaiting trial, Berger said. The two prison correctional officers have requested jury trials. A California Department of Corrections investigation into their actions is under way, a prison spokesman said. The others agreed to sentences that included two days in jail or community service, a $100 fine, getting tested for the AIDS virus AIDS virus n. See HIV. and attending AIDS counseling. The counseling explains the risks of going to prostitutes and general promiscuous behavior, officials said. They are also placed on probation. Besides the 32 arrested on suspicion of soliciting prostitutes, a 27-year-old Adelanto man was arrested on suspicion of felony pandering for trying to recruit one of the undercover female deputies to work for him. Passed in November, the confiscation confiscation In law, the act of seizing property without compensation and submitting it to the public treasury. Illegal items such as narcotics or firearms, or profits from the sale of illegal items, may be confiscated by the police. Additionally, government action (e.g. ordinance is intended to embarrass embarrass /em·bar·rass/ (em-bar´as) to impede the function of; to obstruct. em·bar·rass v. To interfere with or impede (a bodily function or part). and hit in the wallet men who normally would get off with a fine and community service but no jail time, officials say. Complaints about loitering Loitering (IPA pronunciation: ['lɔɪtəˌrɪŋ] is an intransitive verb meaning to stand idly, to stop numerous times, or to delay and procrastinate. prostitutes are among the most common received by Lancaster sheriff's officials, officials said. Complaints come from both business owners and offended residents. The 32 men were mostly from the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley but included men from Lynwood, Glendale, Arleta and Texas. Their vehicles were towed away to a Lancaster vehicle storage yard and the men were given court forms to fill out to contest the confiscation. In Oakland, more than 500 vehicles have been confiscated since 1998 from people suspected of soliciting prostitutes or buying or selling drugs, officials say. Some of the drug buyers came from 40 miles away. |
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