United States Forfeits More Than $1.5 Million Obtained from the Sale of Daytona Beach Hotel

ORLANDOActing United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the forfeiture of $1,552,588.62 obtained from the sale of the Desert Inn Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida. In July 2011, Dennis Brian Devlin, of Daytona Beach, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting a minor. As part of Devlin’s sentence, the court ordered Devlin to forfeit his interest in the Desert Inn because it was used to facilitate the crimes for which he was convicted.

The titled owner of the Desert Inn, Deslin Hotels Inc., filed a claim to contest the forfeiture of the hotel because it alleged that Devlin did not have an interest in the hotel. After several months of litigation, a settlement was reached wherein Deslin Hotels Inc. conceded to the forfeiture of $1,552,588.62, which represents Devlin’s interest in the proceeds obtained from the recent sale of the Desert Inn.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The forfeitures were handled by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole M. Andrejko.