(AP) -- CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) -- A South Texas sheriff's department's lavish use of forfeited drug and weapons trafficking proceeds on such items as cedar paneling for his office has prompted the state attorney general's office to launch an investigation into how he spent more than a half-million dollars in seized assets.
Critics tell the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that the use of seized proceeds by the Brooks County Sheriff's Office exemplifies the flawed Texas system for dealing with forfeitures, money that is intended for use to fight crime and neutralize criminal networks.
Forfeitures are cash, cars, real estate or other assets associated with a crime that are subject to seizure by law enforcement, with the aim of denying criminals their ill-gotten profits.
The proceeds are distributed among the law enforcement agencies and prosecutors involved.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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