Machine guns, ATVs and hundreds of pounds of pot: Inside the battle over a McHenry Co. mansion

When David Soskin put down some $350,000 cash to purchase a dream house in McHenry County, the source of the money was unknown, his lenders say. But now that he's been accused of big-time marijuana trafficking, they are trying to take possession of the mansion — and they're not the only ones. McHenry County authorities are also seeking to seize the property they allege Soskin paid for with drug money, pitting them against mortgage holders trying to get back their investment.

Court filings in the seizure case provide a glimpse inside the whirlwind lifestyle of Soskin and his fiancee, who were arrested last spring when, according to authorities, hundreds of pounds of pot were discovered inside the luxury home on secluded property in Bull Valley. Investigators say the case also illustrates how extravagant spending sometimes is used as a way to launder illicit funds.

The case's origins are in Rockford, where police said a cooperating witness told them he knew a marijuana dealer whose supplier, a guy named "Dave," bought pot in quantities of 500 pounds at a time. The witness told them Dave sold part of his stash to a Joseph Vogrinc of Rockford, according to authorities.´On May 17, investigators got a court order to put a tracking device on Vogrinc's car, and followed it the next day to Soskin's sprawling Bull Valley compound, where he visited for about 45 minutes, according to court records. On his way home, Rockford police said in court documents, they stopped Vogrinc with 10 pounds of cannabis in his car. He told officers that for the past year, he'd been buying 5 to 10 pounds of cannabis a week from Soskin, that he had paid Soskin $7,500 for the 10 pounds of pot and that he still owed Soskin $8,500, authorities allege in court documents.

The day after that, sheriff's officers, Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Rockford police executed a search warrant at Soskin's home. Authorities recovered about 400 pounds of canabis, 1,000 prescription pills, drug ledgers, two machine guns and almost $43,000 in the case, according to court records. Police estimated the street value of the pot at up to $3 million.

DEA agents said Soskin admitted to them that he'd been selling marijuana and the pills for about a year and a half. His fiancee, Jamie Lee, initially denied knowledge of criminal activity but eventually admitted that she became aware of the marijuana trafficking in the fall of 2016, prosecutors alleged in court records.Soskin, 43, is charged with trafficking and manufacture or delivery of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis, both Class X felonies, and possession of cannabis, a Class 1 felony. Lee, 27, is charged with cannabis trafficking, possession of cannabis with intent to deliver and unlawful possession of cannabis. Vogrinc is charged with manufacture or delivery of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis, a Class X felony. All three defendants have pleaded not guilty.    

The court documents outline how Lee allegedly told authorities the operation worked: Soskin hired a man for $5,000 per trip to drive a trailer to California to purchase marijuana, and Soskin and the driver made trips every five weeks. Lee said the cannabis was bought for about $800 to $1,200 a pound and would be sold for $2,000 to $3,000 a pound, the records state.

Lee said the most recent trip to California was a week before Soskin's arrest, when he bought 200 pounds of pot and the driver drove it back with the trailer, according to court records. She showed officers a "trap" on the side of the trailer where they concealed cannabis and cash, and how to open it, according to the court documents.

Authorities said Lee told them she occasionally helped Soskin keep track of different types of cannabis and their amounts, adding that the couple had about 17 bank accounts, according to court records. Lee also said her "job" was to take care of the house and do what Soskin asked, including driving him to O'Hare International Airport to fly to California, the court papers show.

She said Soskin worked at a consulting firm from 1996 to 2006 but it "went under."
According to court records, weeks before his arrest, Soskin prepared a financial statement showing he had about $828,000 in bank accounts and cash; $3.35 million in real estate; $820,000 in personal property including vintage cars, home furnishings and firearms; $700,000 in loans receivable; $450,000 in mortgage payable; $62,000 in vehicle loans; and $15,000 in a pending medical lawsuit. He estimated his total financial worth at about $4.4 million. Yet according to his September 2016 divorce filing from a prior marriage, Soskin had claimed his income was only $2,100 for the year 2016, with total liabilities of $70,000, and he said he did not pay any income tax that year.

Still, on Dec. 23, records show, Soskin bought the Bull Valley property for $800,000, borrowing $450,000 of that cost. The house has six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, an indoor pool and a tennis court, according to a real estate website.

Now the mortgage holders — identified in court papers as Medford Real Estate, Medford Capitol LLC and TBK Bank SSB — are suing to foreclose on the house and regain control of the property before prosecutors seize it. But authorities appear to be taking the stance that they should have first dibs on the property. Prosecutors in the seizure case wrote that, based on Soskin's and Lee's own comments to investigators, "it is evident that money obtained from the sale of controlled substances was used to purchase and pay the mortgage."

Soskin and Lee "had no other legitimate source of income," prosecutors wrote. "Therefore, the subject property is proceeds traceable to an exchange for controlled substances," and should be forfeited to the government, prosecutors argued.

The state Controlled Substances Act allows seizure of "all … things of value … used or intended to be used in violation of this Act." But Medford and TBK in court records said they "deny that all funds used to pay for the subject property are traceable to any improper exchanges. … Medford and TBK had no knowledge of Soskin's source of funds used to purchase the subject property, his use of the subject property or the activities alleged. … (These are) bona fide mortgages."

The companies asked the court to dismiss the state's request for forfeiture, and to instead make their mortgage lien first in line for proceeds from any sale of the property. They cited a state law that reads: "A property interest is exempt from forfeiture … if its owner or interest holder establishes by a preponderance of evidence that the owner or interest holder … is not legally accountable for the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture… (and) without knowledge of the conduct which gave rise to the forfeiture."

Attorney Todd Rowden, who represents the financial companies in court, said such disputes between law enforcement and lenders over property suspected of drug involvement are not uncommon. But he said this was a pretty "straightforward" and "black and white" case in which the lender should be protected.

Rowden said Medford and TBK followed proper procedure in authorizing the mortgage.

"I'm confident that all due diligence was done correctly and it didn't raise any red flags," he said.
On its website, Medford Capital states that it provides loans to borrowers "who do not meet the stringent requirements of conventional real estate underwriting guidelines or need access to financing faster than a conventional institution can provide."

Customers may seek nontraditional loans from Medford for a variety of reasons, Rowden said, such as a past bankruptcy or lack of typical income requirements. That's why clients may pay more than the standard interest rate, he said, as in the case of Soskin, who was committed to pay almost 11 percent interest.

In addition to the house and surrounding property, authorities said they seized two machine guns, a black and gray 2016 Heartland travel trailer, a red 1988 Ford L90000 fire truck, a 2013 Chrysler minivan, a white 1991 Beachcomber trailer, four Honda ATVs and 18 televisions. In general, law enforcement authorities take in a huge amount of money from the sale of seized assets. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the Illinois Policy Institute found that in the past decade, the state cashed in forfeitures for $319 million, according to a recent report.


USA - CT.