CHARLOTTE, N.C. (News Release) β U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray announced that, following a successful civil forfeiture proceeding, the U.S. Marshals Service, with the assistance of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, has taken possession of a drug house on Lytham Drive in Charlotte (Lytham House), which is located roughly 450 feet from South Mecklenburg High School.
The United Statesβ forfeiture complaint alleged that the Lytham House was the site of significant and serious drug-related criminal activity and posed a threat to the safety and welfare of the surrounding neighborhood. According to court records, the Lytham House was the subject of seventy-nine calls for service to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) since 2013.
More specifically, according to allegations contained in the civil forfeiture complaint, the Lytham House wasβin recent yearsβthe site of, among other things: a drug-related double-homicide in which four people were shot; four separate drug overdoses; a first-degree arson where past residents burned down a shed on the property; the storage of a stolen vehicle with the knowledge and consent of at least one of the residents in order to aid with the theft; and numerous instances where law enforcement has found drugs, drug paraphernalia, and individuals in possession of drugs or using the Lytham House in conjunction with the trafficking of drugs. As a result of this activity, the U.S. Attorneyβs Office used a provision of Title 21 designed to target narcotics residences in order to pursue forfeiture of the house.
In making todayβs announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for their work on this case.
U.S. Attorney Murray said, βAccording to published news reports and interviews of neighbors, as well as the information set forth in the filed Complaint, this house was a scourge on a family-friendly neighborhood near a school. The U.S. Attorneyβs Office, federal law enforcement, and CMPD will use all of the tools at their disposalβincluding but not limited to civil forfeitureβto remedy neighborhood problems caused by property owners who repeatedly allow and encourage criminal activity to plague Charlotte-area neighborhoods.β
Assistant United States Attorney Seth Johnson of the U.S. Attorneyβs Office in Charlotte handled the proceedings. (Docket No. 3:20cv110).
