When they seized my life savings.
Every penny that I've worked for, every honest
dollar that I earned over the last 25, 30 years.
It made me feel like I was the dirt on the ground.
Kermit Warren is a hardworking grandfather from New
Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward.
He's had lots of jobs and for extra money, he also collects
and sells scrap metal.
I worked at the Port of New Orleans as a longshoreman.
I worked as a contractor for the Corps of Engineers.
I worked at world famous Central Grocery,
and now I'm currently working at the Roosevelt
Hotel as the shine man.
But now the government is using civil forfeiture to
try to take nearly $30,000 from Kermit, without ever
charging him with a crime.
Kermit, like many of his neighbors lost much
in Hurricane Katrina.
After Hurricane Katrina, I lost everything in my home.
My home was destroyed.
Pictures, photos, appliances, cars.
Kermit, who is the head deacon of his church helped
rebuild his community and diligently set aside
money with every paycheck.
I've always been a person who humbled myself and
didn't go out and spend money unnecessarily.
Once I paid my utilities, bought my groceries.
I would save a couple hundred dollars per week.
When COVID-19 hit, Kermit and his son Leo were laid
off Kermit decided to use a savings to turn his part-time
metal scrapping job into a full-time business with Leo.
To do that, he needed a bigger truck and he thought
he found one in Ohio.
Would you take a cash offer?
He said, "Sure."
I say, I'll offer you 30,000 cash.
He said, "Sure."
I told him I'd be on the next plane coming to Ohio.
Kermit and Leo flew to Ohio planning to drive the
truck back to new Orleans.
But when they arrived, they saw the truck was
too big for their needs.
So they bought one way tickets home.
The TSA lady asked me what was in the bag.
I notified and told her that I had close
to $30,000 cash money.
Her supervisor told her that it was okay for
me to travel with that amount of cash money.
So they let me go through.
I went and sat down to wait for my plane to come.
Three DEA agents came to me and asked me, could
they speak with me?
So he didn't want to hear the story about me
showing him the truck.
He didn't want me to call the guy who I was buying a truck
from, he said, we're going to confiscate your money.
He said, we think y'all are up here doing something illegal.
I said, man, you're just robbing me for my money.
Civil forfeiture turns the presumption of
innocence on its head.
DEA doesn't have any evidence to charge Kermit
with a crime, but they don't need to in order to
keep his money forever.
Unfortunately civil forfeiture disproportionately
affects racial minorities and the poor.
Since they seized my money, it's been very difficult
for me to provide for my family and my children
and to pay the necessary bills that I need to pay.
The Institute for Justice is fighting with Kermit to
get his life savings back and to end civil forfeiture.
If the government wants to permanently
keep your property.
It should have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
that you committed a crime.
What happened to Kermit shouldn't happen to
anyone in America.
It was, it was my worst nightmare.
I never knew my whole 58 years as a man in the United
States, that three DEA agents can take a man's money from
him that he worked for and not had committed any kind
of crime, or was arrested for doing any type of wrongdoing.
How could they just take my money from me like that?