PROCEEDS OF CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE RETURNED TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

Fort Smith, Arkansas - Robert C. Balfe, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas; William C. Temple, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Arkansas; and Cleve Daniels, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service / Criminal Investigation Division, Nashville Field Office; jointly announced that checks totaling $880,959.57 are being presented to the Fort Smith Police Department and the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office. This money represent the shared proceeds of assets forfeited by the federal government in connection with the criminal investigation of Chris Drosopoulos and members of his family. Checks in the amount $844,085.12 will be given to the Fort Smith Police Department; and, $36,874.45 to the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office. The proceeds from these forfeited assets will be used by these agencies for law enforcement purposes in accordance with federal government's asset forfeiture guidelines.

These forfeitures resulted from a joint investigation by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Services Criminal Investigation Division, and the Fort Smith Police Department, with assistance also coming from the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office, the Arkansas State Police, and the United States Marshals Service.

As a result of a nearly 4 year investigation, Chris Drospoulos, was sentenced on May 4, 2007 in United States District Court in Fort Smith, Arkansas to 87 months imprisonment and 5 years supervised release on the charge of Sexual Exploitation of Children and 60 months imprisonment and 3 years supervised release on the charge of Structuring Currency Transactions for the Purpose of Evading the Reporting Requirements of Federal Law. This investigation also resulted in the convictions of his family members: Vasso Drosopoulos (mother), John Drosopoulos (brother), and Jerry Hart (brother-in-law), who was at the time a Little Rock Police Officer, for Conspiracy to Structure Currency Transactions for the Purpose of Evading the Reporting Requirements of Federal Law. As part of this investigation William Frank Lay, Vice President and Commercial Loan Officer for the Bank of the Ozarks, plead guilty to obstructing of a federal investigation because he disclosed to a target of the investigation the issuance of a federal grand jury subpoena. Over $1.1 million dollars in cash and assets was seized and forfeited to the federal government by Chris Drosopoulos and his family members.

The investigation also targeted individuals in the Fort Smith area who were involved in drug trafficking. As a result of this four year investigation, over thirty individuals have pled guilty to various drug related offenses in both federal and state court with sentences ranging from probation to 30 years in prison. As part of the drug investigation, law enforcement seized large quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana and disrupted drug rings. This investigation also included the largest crack cocaine seizure in Fort Smith history when Warner Mays was arrested with over 26 ounces of crack cocaine to which he also plead guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in the Sebastian County Court. Additional criminal investigations have been initiated in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas as a result of this case.

Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, William Temple, stated, "This case is the culmination of a four year investigation involving several local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the Ft. Smith area. This type of investigation demonstrates the benefit to our communities when we pool our investigative and prosecutorial resources and personnel. Without these agencies' willingness to cooperate, the support of their management, and the dedicated, hard work of the investigative personnel, we would not be able to stand together today and announce that this money which had been used in connection with criminal activity will now be used by the local law enforcement agencies to fight the battle against crime in this community".

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