Opinion ID: 605
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Mahender Sabhnani's Constitutional Challenge to the Forfeiture

Text: Mahender next argues that forfeiture of his entire interest in his home is in gross disproportion to his role in the crimes, in violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of excessive fines. U.S. Const. amend. VIII. In evaluating such a claim, we determine whether the forfeiture is grossly disproportional to the gravity of a defendant's offense. United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321, 334, 118 S.Ct. 2028, 141 L.Ed.2d 314(1998). [19] We do so by considering (1) the harshness ... of the forfeiture in comparison to the gravity of the offense, giving due regard to (a) the offense committed and its relation to other criminal activity, (b) whether the claimant falls within the class of persons for whom the statute was designed, (c) the punishments available, and (d) the harm caused by the claimant's conduct; (2) the nexus between the property and the criminal offenses, including the deliberate nature of the use and the temporal and spatial extent of the use; and (3) the culpability of each claimant. von Hofe v. United States, 492 F.3d 175, 186 (2d Cir.2007) (citing Bajakajian, 524 U.S. at 337-40, 118 S.Ct. 2028). The district court, in rejecting Mahender's constitutional challenge, found that the essence of the defendants' crimes was the harboring [of] illegal aliens and forcing them to perform domestic labor. Sabhnani, 566 F.Supp.2d at 155. The court determined that the Sabhnanis were clearly within the class of persons for whom the statutes at issue were designed, and that the statutes carried with them the possibility of severe punishment and large fines. Id. The trial testimony demonstrated, moreover, that the crimes of the defendants, all of which took place within the Sabhnani residence, caused great harm to the victims. Id. Relying on von Hofe, Mahender argues on appeal that because he was less culpable for the crimes than was Varsha, the forfeiture of his interest in their jointly-owned home was excessive. In von Hofe, a husband and wife were convicted of state law offenses related to the growing of 65 marijuana plants in their shared residence, and the federal government thereafter sought forfeiture of the home. von Hofe, 492 F.3d at 179. The only crime to which Mrs. von Hofe pled guilty was possession of a controlled substance under Connecticut state law, while her husband pled guilty to manufacturing and distributing such substances. Id. We agreed with the district court that forfeiture of the husband's interest in the home did not violate his rights under the Excessive Fines Clause, id. at 186, but we reversed the forfeiture judgment as to his wife, id. at 188. Stating that Mrs. von Hofe bore minimal blame for the criminal activity that occurred at the house, we noted that there was no evidence in the record of her use of drugs or involvement in any way in the growing of the marijuana. Id. Indeed, there was no evidence that she even knew that marijuana was being trafficked out of her home. Id. at 188-89 We find von Hofe easily distinguishable. As we have already discussed, the trial testimony is clear that Mahender both knew of the criminal conduct taking place inside his residence and participated in it. This distinguishes von Hofe, in which we found it significant to her level of culpability that Mrs. von Hofe neither knew of the drug trafficking nor in any way encouraged or promoted it. Id. at 188. In United States v. Collado, 348 F.3d 323 (2d Cir.2003), we rejected a constitutional challenge to a forfeiture action against a building owner who was willfully blind to the drug trafficking taking place in her building. Collado, 348 F.3d at 327-28. Suffice it to say that if willful blindness is a sufficient level of culpability to justify a property forfeiture, Mahender's willful participation in the crimes taking place in his home fully supports the forfeiture judgment here. See also United States v. Milbrand, 58 F.3d 841, 848 (2d Cir.1995) (forfeiture of mother's interest in farm on which son conducted marijuana trafficking was not excessive because evidence demonstrated that she must have known of criminal conduct taking place there). Given the evidence on which the jury relied to convict Mahender of the underlying criminal charges, there was nothing grossly disproportionate about the forfeiture of his interest in the house, and thus the forfeiture did not violate the Excessive Fines Clause.