Woman found carrying nearly $47,000 in bra at airport sues government

June 23, 2005

BOSTON --A Quincy woman who apparently stuffed $46,950 in cash in her bra before trying to board a plane to Texas for plastic surgery has sued a federal agency, demanding the return of her money.
The money was seized from Ileana Valdez, 26, after a security check at a metal detector at Logan International Airport on Feb. 3. Valdez told authorities she was heading to Texas for plastic surgery on her buttocks and breasts.
"I don't know why she was carrying it (the cash) in her bra," said Boston lawyer Tony V. Blaize, who filed the suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston on behalf of Valdez.
In her suit, Valdez said a male Drug Enforcement Administration agent told her she had a nice body and didn't need surgery -- and then seized the cash, claiming it was drug money.
Valdez, a single mother said in her suit that she has no criminal record and earned the money by selling her Dorchester business and two parcels of property in Boston's Jamaica Plain section.
Anthony Pettigrew, a spokesman for the DEA in Boston, said he could not comment on the lawsuit. But he said federal asset forfeiture laws allow agents to seize suspected drug profits.
(2005 The New York Times Company)

Anyone wishing to respond to my notes posted in this weblog can do so on the we8there forum.

The local media was there, but not in force on the day we checked in, and I had a hard time getting information for the public relations firm that was responsible for coordinating this event. There were none of my dessert booths that served the peach cobbler, banana pudding,or the strawberry shortcake ... it appeared that a lot of the standard vendors stayed away, instead we were offered free trip to Hawaii for a timeshare booth that was in denial (We are not a timeshare, and for twenty dollars we will show you) I tried to talk to Willie Bird booth who has been there as long as I have been visiting the festival but they were so rude I simply moved on. Will I return to the Isleton for the Crawdad Festival? If it is run the same way it was run in 2005 the answer in NO! When I want family friendly event I will go to Disney Land. However Ernies has created a fan and I will be visiting Ernies again!  

Yes, family friendly with dunk tank and all, was the festival ready to be turned in to a family type event, or should it keep its over the top party atmosphere? Let me just say this I can go anywhere for a family event even chunky cheese I drive the 60 plus miles for the crazyness of the old Crawdad Festival. This festival had a large cloud hanging over it head they dumbed down a perfect event and it showed, in a normal festival you can barely walk down Main Street because it is so packed with revelers this year it felt empty and mundane.  

Now about the Festival.... first some brief history, the original Crawdad Festival was run by the Isleton Chamber of Commerce for more almost two decades the festival always had that Marti Gras feel and atmosphere with out having to spend hundreds of dollars flying to New Orlean's, it was litterly a three day party and all the proceeds went to help local charties. Now insert the City of Isleton who more than likely saw a cash cow and decieded to have their very own Crawdad festival the exact same day except they woud charge an admission charge of 5 dollars (For the last 17 years it has been free) and make it a family friendly event!

Even the Princess Brooke had a sampling of crawdads at Ernies and loved it... If you want to see more of the Princess Brooke you can go to her Blog @ http://brookeroberts.blogspot.com/ this was brookes second appeareance at the Crawdad Festival and our fifth!  

ERNIES!!! Fresh is better, and the price is right! So skip the long lines of the festival .... and enjoy the ice cold beer, steamed Clams oyster shots and of course fresh local Crawdads prepares fresh from the delta.

Lets see now 15 dollars for fresh frozen Crawdads from another state at the official Crawdad Festival booth, Or three pounds of Fresh local crawdads for 22 dollars..... after our unscientific sampling of the little mud bugs the winner for the best Crawdads in or about the Isleton Crawdad festival is..........  

I apologize for this image I was suppose to show you an image of a bowl of freshly prepared Crawdads, however after sampling local Crawdads at another restaurant in Isleton I forgot to snap a pic until it was too late!