Education officials break down Stockton man's door

[banca rotta]

I hate to think about what will happen when 90% of student loan debtors default which is highly likely.

[IamOld]

Perhaps society will value education, and invest in it, like other nations, and not have people who go to school - whether to become a plumber or doctor - to become debt slaves.

Nah...who am I kidding!?!

I hate to think about what will happen when 90% of student loan debtors default which is highly likely.

[BigJohn]

"What do you do when they come for you......."

[debtprison]

I hate to think about what will happen when 90% of student loan debtors default which is highly likely.

The usual. Bailouts for the student loan companies while the people are still fully on the hook for the debts. Maybe they'll even bring back debtors prison too after the lenders lobby for it.

That said for most federal loans there is no excuse to default anymore. Get on Income Based Repayment. You pay based on income and after 25 years of being on the program the debt is gone. I pay zero right now due to low income and am locked in for a year. The only way I will default is if I don't renew the IBR each year.

[mlsj2009]

Collectivism

You Talk about debtor's prison. A student loan is a debt. I understand the wife of the household was suspect of defrauding our Government over student loans. Maybe she is even guilty, but 15 federal agents break down a door while armed, serve a search warrant and want to only search the house for evidence?
I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope the family was known to be armed, but after reading other stories about this case, the husband has already retained a lawyer. I think rightfully so, and so far, it appears the family was just a normal American family. Time will tell I guess.
The collectivist thought that now pervades throughout our society is a dangerous place to be. We have forgotten our Constitution protects individuals rights, not the collective group as a whole. From the collective group we have historically gotten vigilante justice and a lot of wrongful hangings. Now we are getting signs of fascism in our politics, of course for the benefit of the rest of the group.

[IamOld]

Well said...hopefully innocent until and unless proven otherwise isn't a "quaint" notion!

You Talk about debtor's prison. A student loan is a debt. I understand the wife of the household was suspect of defrauding our Government over student loans. Maybe she is even guilty, but 15 federal agents break down a door while armed, serve a search warrant and want to only search the house for evidence?
I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope the family was known to be armed, but after reading other stories about this case, the husband has already retained a lawyer. I think rightfully so, and so far, it appears the family was just a normal American family. Time will tell I guess.
The collectivist thought that now pervades throughout our society is a dangerous place to be. We have forgotten our Constitution protects individuals rights, not the collective group as a whole. From the collective group we have historically gotten vigilante justice and a lot of wrongful hangings. Now we are getting signs of fascism in our politics, of course for the benefit of the rest of the group.

[catleg]

The actual search warrant is up on zerohedge. It does look like a fishing expedition. You wonder if they did any surveillance on this house at all to see if she lived there before breaking in the door. Militarization of the police. Scary.

[justbroke]

Unfortunately, many people see law enforcement officers in camo, and think that's a SWAT team. I don't think any of us really want to see "the" SWAT team in our home. Nevertheless, this seems to be a very-specific case and it is true that many search warrants are executed to find evidence of a felony. The DoEd. is not coming for you. I'd be more worried about your local government than the Inspector General from the DofEd.

catleg, can you PM me the link to the warrant application and affidavit?

[LadyInTheRed]

Education Department Denies ‘SWAT’ Raid Was Due to Defaulted Student Loans

June 8, 2010

STOCKTON, CA - After the Department of Education raided the home of a Stockton man Tuesday morning, officials said the search was part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Kenneth Wright, after retaining a Sacramento lawyer, gave News10 the full original search warrant he was given by federal agents Tuesday.

DOCUMENT: Search Warrant

An official with the U.S. Department of Education returned phone calls to News 10 Wednesday morning, saying the search warrant is part of a criminal investigation and not because of unpaid student financial aid loans.

However, the official would not say why the department is investigating the Wrights.

At 6 a.m. Tuesday, Wright said he woke up to what he thought was a S.W.A.T team breaking down his door. As Wright came downstairs in his boxer shorts, he said the officers barged through his front door.

RELATED STORY: Questions surround feds' raid of Stockton home

Wright said an officer grabbed him by the neck and led him outside on his front lawn.

"He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there," Wright said.

According to Wright, officers also woke his three young children, ages 3, 9, and 11, and put them in a Stockton police patrol car with him. Officers then searched his house.

"They put me in handcuffs in that hot patrol car for six hours, traumatizing my kids," Wright said.

As it turned out, the person a team of federal agents were looking for - Wright's estranged wife Michelle - was not there.

The federal search warrant is sealed by the courts, but the copy given to Wright said the Department of Education and its Office of the Inspector General are investigating the Wrights for financial aid fraud. The search allowed for the seizure of any student financial aid documents, W2 forms and electronic communications.

Wright said he does not have a criminal record and doesn't believe he or his estranged wife did anything illegal.

Wright's neighbors, who did not want to disclose their last names, said they saw the raid unfold.

"They surrounded the house; it was like a task force or S.W.A.T team," across the street neighbor Becky said. "They all had guns. They dragged him out in his boxer shorts, threw him to the ground and handcuffed him."

According to Becky and her two children, the raid started at 6 a.m. with agents ramming down Wright's front door.

"I watched until I went to work at 10:45 and they were still out there," Becky said.

Her young daughter, Valerie, said she counted 13 agents and one Stockton police officer outside Wright's home.

"I felt really bad for those kids," said Becky about agents when they brought out Wright's three children. "They were crying really loud."

U.S. Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton said the agents that served the search warrant were with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), not local S.W.A.T.

OIG is a semi-independent branch of the education department that executes warrants for criminal offenses such as student aid fraud, embezzlement of federal aid and bribery, according to Hamilton. The agency serves 30 to 35 search warrants a year.

The Stockton Police Department said it was asked by federal agents to provide one officer and one patrol car just for a police [/QUOTE]

http://www.news10.net/news/article/141207/29/DOE-raids-Stockton-home-in-criminal-probe

[IamOld]

I agree with Catleg this is the militarization of police - why in the world would that macho "warrior" like mentality be needed for something that is at worst a white collar issue? Is tha to terrorize???

[mlsj2009]

Not W

Unfortunately, many people see law enforcement officers in camo, and think that's a SWAT team. I don't think any of us really want to see "the" SWAT team in our home. Nevertheless, this seems to be a very-specific case and it is true that many search warrants are executed to find evidence of a felony. The DoEd. is not coming for you. I'd be more worried about your local government than the Inspector General from the DofEd.

A SWAT team is a Special Weapons and Tactics team with special training for specific tactics. This particular unit, according to news reports, was specially trained federal agents, about 15 of them. Whether or not they were actually a SWAT team or what they wore is only academic. They were trained, armed and crashed into a private citizens home in an unbecoming manner, or as it appears from the reports. I believe in challenging all authority, especially our federal government, which is the most powerful. With all due respect, justbroke, shifting the focus to local entities misses the points I made. The point is that these kinds of strong armed tactics taken by our federal government smacks of Collectivist thought. That is the idea that government must do what is best for the group as a whole. In my opinion, this supersedes individuals rights and replaces it with a group mentality. If our individual rights are protected so that they end with the end of our nose, the group is also protected. You cannot protect the group as a whole without protecting individual rights and expect individuals not to get hurt. That is the beauty of our Constitution in a nutshell, we put individuals first, not last. The acts of the feds put the man's dignity and rights on the back burner, for the group as a whole you understand, and only some person in government can determine what is best for the group, right?

[catleg]

Amen to that. See also the swat massacre of the returned war veteran in Arizona.

[LadyInTheRed]

The search warrant lists the crimes being investigated as Financial Aid Fraud, Conspiracy, Theft of Government Funds, False Statement to Government Agency and Wire Fraud.

They may not have been there because of a loan default, but it still sounds like the family was treated pretty harshly.

[IamOld]

EXACTLY Lady - even IF true (and this sounds like the kitchen sink approach) EVEN IF true - this is white collar stuff - no different than the banksters - you didn't see Bernie Madoff attacked by the SWAT (whatever) team!!!

The search warrant lists the crimes being investigated as Financial Aid Fraud, Conspiracy, Theft of Government Funds, False Statement to Government Agency and Wire Fraud.

They may not have been there because of a loan default, but it still sounds like the family was treated pretty harshly.

[catleg]

It was especially nice the way they screwed a piece of wood over the hole they knocked in his front door and said "there, all better now". :-)
Why the need for a no-knock search? Probably cause he lives in the "wrong" type of neighborhood.
If only they went after medicare (or foreclosure!) frauds this way.