She delivered $200 worth of drugs. Police seized her $53,000 Chevrolet Tahoe.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Legal Issues

She delivered $200 worth of drugs. Police seized her $53,000 Chevrolet Tahoe.

By Justin Jouvenal
July 28 at 12:50 PM

Leslie Mayo’s ex-husband called in 2017, telling her he had bumped into an old friend from the ’90s named Moe who wanted to hang out. The call was forgettable but for the fact that Mayo couldn’t recall the man. ... It turns out there was a good reason: Court documents show that her ex-husband is a paid informant for local police and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Moe was really an undercover Fairfax County police detective. ... Mayo was being set up.

The sting that unfolded in the months that followed provides an unusual window into the murky world of undercover drug busts and police seizing property they believe was used in a crime, which is known as civil asset forfeiture. The practice, which doesn’t require an arrest, has come under increased scrutiny in recent years.

Mayo, who had no felony record and was found by a judge not to be a regular dealer, was arrested for facilitating the sale of $200 worth of crack. She made no money, but police confiscated the $53,000 Chevrolet Tahoe she used to deliver the drugs from a dealer to the undercover detective.

Mayo, 51, pleaded guilty to felony drug distribution earlier this year and admits she made a mistake but said it was excessive for police to take a vehicle worth 265 times more than the 2.72 grams of crack she was convicted of distributing. So Mayo fought the police in court to get her Tahoe back and a judge came down on her side.

“I made a very poor choice in judgment,” Mayo said. “My ex-husband didn’t put a gun to my head and neither did the detective. But I do feel taken advantage of.” ... Fairfax County prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling and police issued a brief statement: “We respect the judge’s ruling.”
....

Justin Jouvenal covers courts and policing in Fairfax County and across the nation. He joined The Post in 2009. Follow https://twitter.com/jjouvenal

[AJT]

1. I'm not sure how to feel about this. Crack....yikes.

Where did she get it? Just because she didn't have a record doesn't mean she was not involved with dealing. If she wasn't a real dealer why would the police spend so much time with the sting? This doesn't make sense to me. I don't have a lot of immediate sympathy for people selling crack.

[Ptah]

3. Her husband set her up.

Court documents show that her ex-husband is a paid informant for
local police and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Moe was
really an undercover Fairfax County police detective. ... Mayo was being set up.

[AJT]

5. No local police department is going to spend time and money

on a sting, especially if it seems like an ex-husband might be out for revenge or something. There would need to be more. There is more to this story than what is reflected in the article.

[trev]

4. Article says she refused Moe's first request.

telling him she couldn't help him. His second request was made in the presence of a friend, who offered to obtain the drug.

I don't think she was a dealer. But I think her ex- is a rat. And I think there were ulterior motives involved.

[CentralMass]

2. I guess knowing her source of income might be of use in forming an opinion

Payments on a 53,000 vhevy Lake Tahoe don't come cheap.

[Fullduplexxx]

6. " she made a mistake but said.... " it was not a mistake

It was a gamble and you lost