Couple demands return of money seized in Rensselaer drug raid

TROY – A Rensselaer couple sued by Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel E. Abelove for $12,386 seized during a 2015 drug raid filed motions to get the money back, according to court papers.

Abelove filed sued Alexander Luciano and his wife, Queyanna N. Luciano, in April, seeking a civil forfeiture of the cash and other items taken by Troy and Rensselaer police at the couple’s Rensselaer home in April 2015.

The Lucianos want Abelove’s lawsuit dismissed, the return of the $12,386 in cash held by Troy police, the return of any other property and the payment of interest and other costs, according to the legal papers filed with the county clerk's office by their lawyer, Bruce Evan Knoll of Albany.

A jury trial also is requested if the case proceeds that far.

This case is the first time Abelove as district attorney has filed to have the funds forfeited. Typically, in a drug case, a defendant surrenders any money as part of a plea deal.

But in this case, Alexander Luciano, 36, went to trial in Rensselaer County Court and was convicted of possessing drugs  in 2016. Luciano is serving an eight-year prison sentence in Coxsackie Correctional Facility.

The lawsuit, filed by Assistant District Attorney Jacob B. Sher for Abelove, argues that Luciano obtained the money and equipment taken in the raid and used it "as part of an ongoing drug distribution enterprise."

It also maintains that Queyanna N. Luciano “knew or should have known" the $12,386 was obtained through the commission of a crime. She was named as a non-criminal defendant in the lawsuit.  She is a veteran and nurse, who lives in Rensselaer with the couple’s three children.