America's Neo-Nazi Policing - Pt 2: Philadelphia Couple Has Home Seized After Son's Heroin Bust — Even Though Police Knew They Committed No Crime

Photo by Nisha A.

By McCarton Ackerman
A hard-working Philadelphia couple had their house seized due to their son’s drug bust, even though the parents have never been charged with a crime.

Yianni Sourovelis, 22, was booked on drug charges last January after police arrested him for possessing $40 worth of heroin and later accused him of selling drugs out of the home. But six weeks later, police and prosecutors came with an armed lawsuit and seized the house of Christos and Markella Sourovelis. Although they accepted that the married couple committed no wrongdoing, authorities used a civil forfeiture law to seize the home since it was tied to illegal drugs.

"It discourages crime and it takes the ill-gotten gains away from the bad people. It’s a good law. It works,” said CNN legal analyst and consumer attorney Brian Kabateck. “That doesn't mean that it doesn't sometimes have issues that need to be corrected. The system constantly has to change."

The Sourvelis’ were forced to sleep on the couch of a family member for over a week before facing a prosecutor from the DA’s office and convincing them to let them back into the house. But after their son pleaded no contest to the drug charges, they could only be let back in on the guarantee their son was banned from the house.

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America's Neo-Nazi Policing

Part 1          Part 2         Part 3          Part 4          Part 5

Part 6          Part 7         Part 8          Part 9          Part 10

Part 11        Part 12       Part 13        Part 14        Part 15

Part 16        Part 17       Part 18        Part 19        Part 20

Part 21        Part 22       Part 23        Part 24