Towns County Sheriff’s Office awarded over $13K in cash, vehicle, handgun seizure

HIAWASSEE, Ga. – On Wednesday, Aug. 7, Towns County Sheriff’s Office was awarded $13,973 dollars in cash, a 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser, and a 9MM handgun as a result of a traffic stop and drug investigation. The award was the result of a seizure filed by the Enotah Circuit District Attorney’s Office on behalf of the Towns County Sheriff’s Office.

On the morning of Saturday, Sept. 22, Towns County Sheriff’s deputies made a traffic stop on a 2003 Black Chrysler PT Cruiser on Kelly Road in Hiawassee. Towns County Sheriff’s Office investigators assisted the deputies with the traffic stop. Upon further investigation, the vehicle was impounded and investigators obtained a search warrant for the vehicle.

Towns County investigators and deputies arrested Joseph Carson Loog, 41, of Paris. Tennessee. Loog was charged with the following:

• 1 Count Violation of Georgia Controlled Substance
  Act, possession of methamphetamine with intent to
  distribute.
• 1 Count Violation of Georgia Controlled Substance
  Act, possession of methamphetamine.
• 1 Count Violation of Georgia Controlled Substance
  Act, possession of marijuana.
• 1 Count Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted
  Felon.
• 1 Count Possession of Firearm during the
  Commission of a Felony.
• 1 Count of Giving a False Name to Law Enforcement.
• 1 Count of Driving on Suspended License.
• 1 Count of No Proof of Insurance.
• 1 Count of No Seatbelt.

Towns County Sheriff’s Office Investigators during the course of the investigation seized a 2003 Chrysler
PT Cruiser, $13,973 in cash, a 9mm handgun, a portable scanner, a set of scales, along with other miscellaneous items. On July 19, the defendant Joseph Loog entered and closed his case with a guilty plea. On Aug. 7, a Condemnation and Forfeiture Hearing was held, and the results were that the seized property that being the $13,973 in cash, the 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser, and the 9MM handgun was hereby condemned and forfeited to the Towns
County Sheriff’s Office.

“The Sheriff’s Office would like to sincerely thank the Enotah Circuit District Attorney’s Office for all their hard work and assistance with filing the Condemnation and Forfeiture paperwork, and with the prosecution of the criminal charges,” Chief Deputy Terry Conner said.

Under Georgia law, the government must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that seized property is connected to a crime, or that there is no other likely source for the property other than criminal activity. Property owners who file an innocent owner claim bear the burden of proving that they neither knew nor consented to any illegal use of their property. Up to 100 percent of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement in Georgia.