Filed: Jul. 03, 2001
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 99-41436 Summary Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, versus WILLIAM EDWARD STEWART; ET AL, Defendants, JAMES L. EMERSON; ASSOCIATED MORTGAGE INVESTORS; OSAGE CORPORATION, Claimants-Appellants, KURT BECKER; WARREN DECKARD; ARBOR HOLDINGS, Claimants-Appellees. - Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas USDC No. 1:99-CR-26-1 - June 28, 2001 Before DAVIS, JONES, and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 99-41436 Summary Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, versus WILLIAM EDWARD STEWART; ET AL, Defendants, JAMES L. EMERSON; ASSOCIATED MORTGAGE INVESTORS; OSAGE CORPORATION, Claimants-Appellants, KURT BECKER; WARREN DECKARD; ARBOR HOLDINGS, Claimants-Appellees. - Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas USDC No. 1:99-CR-26-1 - June 28, 2001 Before DAVIS, JONES, and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges. ..
More
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 99-41436
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
versus
WILLIAM EDWARD STEWART; ET AL,
Defendants,
JAMES L. EMERSON; ASSOCIATED MORTGAGE INVESTORS; OSAGE
CORPORATION,
Claimants-Appellants,
KURT BECKER; WARREN DECKARD; ARBOR HOLDINGS,
Claimants-Appellees.
--------------------
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Texas
USDC No. 1:99-CR-26-1
--------------------
June 28, 2001
Before DAVIS, JONES, and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
James L. Emerson, Associated Mortgage Investors, and Osage
Corporation (collectively, “the Emerson claimants”) appeal the
district court’s final order of forfeiture in connection with
criminal proceedings against William Edward Stewart for money
laundering. The Emerson claimants contend that the district
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
No. 99-41436
-2-
court erred in conveying to Kurt Becker, Warren Deckard, and
Arbor Holdings (“the Arbor Holdings claimants”) title to 2722
Heatherbend Drive in Pearland, Texas (“the Heatherbend
property”), free of any claims by the Government or the Emerson
claimants.
In imposing sentence on a person convicted of a money
laundering offense, the district court “shall order that the
person forfeit to the United States any property, real or
personal, involved in such offense, or any property traceable to
such property.” 18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(1). If, after publication of
notice of the forfeiture order and a hearing, a petitioner
establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that:
(A) the petitioner has a legal right, title,
or interest in the property, and such right,
title, or interest renders the order of
forfeiture invalid in whole or in part because
the right, title, or interest was vested in
the petitioner rather than the defendant or
was superior to any right, title, or interest
of the defendant at the time of the commission
of the acts which gave rise to the forfeiture
of the property under this section; or
(B) the petitioner is a bona fide purchaser
for value of the right, title, or interest in
the property and was at the time of purchase
reasonably without cause to believe that the
property was subject to forfeiture under this
section;
the court shall amend the order of forfeiture
in accordance with its determination.
21 U.S.C. § 853(n); see 18 U.S.C. § 982(b)(1).
The district court found that the Arbor Holdings claimants
obtained a constructive trust on the Heatherbend property when
Stewart purchased it with funds fraudulently obtained from them
and that the Arbor Holdings claimants therefore had an interest
No. 99-41436
-3-
in the property that was superior to the Government’s interest.
Since neither party has challenged this determination on appeal,
it is undisputed that the Arbor Holdings claimants have a 21
U.S.C. § 853(n)(6)(A) interest in the Heatherbend property.
The Emerson claimants contend that they have a 21 U.S.C.
§ 853(n)(6)(B) interest in the Heatherbend property because
Emerson was a bona fide mortgagee of the property who, at the
time of the mortgage, was reasonably without cause to believe
that the property was subject to forfeiture. The Emerson
claimants assert that Emerson was not notified that the property
was subject to forfeiture, as the Government’s notice of lis
pendens had identified the Heatherbend property as being located
in the wrong Texas county.
Despite that error, the Government’s notice of lis pendens
was filed in the county in which the Heatherbend property is
located; warned of the forfeiture of real property having the
Heatherbend property’s street address; and contained a property
description identical to that contained in the seller’s deed to
the Heatherbend property. Thus, at the time that Emerson took
his mortgage interest in the Heatherbend property, he was not
reasonably without cause to believe that the property was subject
to forfeiture. The Emerson claimants do not have a 21 U.S.C.
§ 853(n)(6)(B) interest in the Heatherbend property.
In light of the foregoing, the district court did not err in
granting the Arbor Holdings claimants title to the Heatherbend
property free of any claims by the Government or the Emerson
No. 99-41436
-4-
claimants. See 21 U.S.C. § 853(n). The district court’s
judgment is AFFIRMED.