 |
|
Here is the documentation of an Actual Freedom of Information Request from Beginning to End. Written by Scott Bledose from his perspective Day 1, October 4th, 1999 We first have to decide the information we want to request. Since I have a sneeky suspicion that seized marijuana ends up back on the street. Let's try to find out shall we. During a 2 1/2 year investigation by US Customs agents, DEA agents, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, agents seized 5,000 pounds of marijuana from a freighter which ported in at Jacksonville, Florida. The Jamacian freighter was loaded with Froot of the Loom packages which concealed the Cannabis. The Bust Occured on August 23rd, 1999. A similar bust occured on July 29th, when 18,000 pounds of cannabis were found inside NuPak Tropical Fruit Punch boxes. This as reported by the Times Union August 23, 1999. Since the article was actually unclear about when these busts occured, I will be making Phone calls this week to get the factual information about these busts. Once we have the story straight. I will then formulate our letter to US CUSTOMS requesting to know the present location of the seized marijuana and its ultimate fate...... Day 2, October 5th, 1999 Today I Placed a call into the Times-Union apparently the dates in the paper are totally inaccurate, so I also have placed a call into the US Customs Department in Jacksonville. The nice woman on the phone took my number and said someone would give me a call. (which probably won't happen) One thing bothered me, when she took my name she insisted on knowing what group I am with. I advised I am simply a citizen seeking public information. As it is really none of their business. With that I will begin formulating the FOIA request letter with the information I have available. Using the model available in the Freedom of Information Page for Federal Requests Day 8, October 11th, 1999 After long conversations with several customs agents in Jacksonville and Tampa, I have formulated my request for the information we seek. In order to get through to a live person at the Tampa Customs Office I had to call Washington DC to get transferred to Tampa. Ridiculous. Any way, the Letter I composed which is a perfect model for any FOIA requests to the federal level, is available Here. Day 11, October 14th, 1999 Today, I was finally able to get down to the Post Office when they were open and mail our Freedom of Information request. The proper way for mailing these requests is: Certified, Return-Receipt Requested. It usually cost $2.98 to send one of these out. The request was mailed from the Gainesville Post Office........... Day 15, October 18th, 1999 Today was the day the Customs department received my request. It was signed for by CA Petro. The Clock is now ticking, they have 20 days to respond to my request. That means the last day is November 7th. Day 24, October 27th, 1999 No reponse yet, but that is standard procedure it takes the full time usually for them to respond. Day 36, November 8th, 1999 Today, I received a letter advising me that my request had been forwarded to the Fines, Penalties, and Forfiture Office in Tampa for a response. When I called the Fines, Penalties, and Forfitures office in Tampa last month, they directed me to send my request to Washington. Washington has now passed the buck off to Tampa, once again. This is the same kind of garbage that you will typically encounter when trying to get public information. I will wait yet another 20 days. If by then I get no response, I will make one followup phone call. If that does not produce results, its off to see the attorneys..... View the letter Here. Day 66, December 8th, 1999 Today I actually spoke with the Commissioners office for the Customs Department in Washington DC to ask him where my information was, I was told they would get right on it and I would get a response within 14 days.....Yeah, Right. I will be speaking to my attorney soon............. Day 81, December 23rd, 1999 Today, I received a Fed Ex package with the response to my FOIA request, a full 50 days after the request was forwarded by Washington DC to the Tampa Fines Penalties and Forfitures Office. The lawful timeframe for a response to FOIA requests is 20 days. In any case the request was denied because they are using an exemption because of the open pending investigation and criminal case resulting from the bust. However, in my appeal it is my contention that telling me the chain of custody for, the present location of, and the final destination for the seized marijuana has no relevance to any ongoing investigation or criminal proceedings. I simply want to disprove that this marijuana is right back on the streets. It is getting quite hard to accomplish in this manner. I will be appealing this decision after talking with my attorney after January 1st. See the denial letter Here. Day 94, January 4th, 2000 I decided to appeal the decision of the Customs Service. See the Appeal Letter Here. Day 180, April 1st, 2000 We Win! We won our appeal and finally received the information! Although it is hard to read and there is a lot of stuff blacked out, like Big Brother, we got the info now we know where the marijuana is supposed to be, I think. At least we know where it was in September. See Here to view the letter of explanation from the US Customs Service and the Information. |