August Term, 2022 Argued: May 3, 2023 Decided: August 4, 2023

No. 22-659 ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

CRISTAL STARLING, Claimant-Appellant,

$8,040.00 UNITED STATES CURRENCY, Defendant.

____________________ Before: KEARSE, JACOBS, and MENASHI, Circuit Judges.

Police officers seized just over $8,000 in a search of Cristal Starling’s home carried out as part of a drug trafficking investigation into her then-boyfriend, K.B. The local police turned over the funds to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which initiated an administrative forfeiture procedure to claim the funds as proceeds from drug sales. Acting pro se, Starling filed a claim to the assets, forcing the government to terminate its adminis