Cocaine dealer says $74K fine for selling drugs to undercover cop is unconstitutional

Despite his nickname of “Kash,” money is something Abdallah Abdelrazzaq doesn’t seem to have much of, at least not that he wants to use to pay a fine imposed after his conviction for selling cocaine.

He waged a constitutional challenge saying the imposition of a fine in lieu of forfeiture of the proceeds of crime — which he said he no longer had — is cruel and unusual punishment.

Abdelrazzaq doesn’t like to work, court heard at his trial in 2021: He called physical labour “disfiguring” and the work environment of retail sales “toxic.”

Although the judge at his trial found him to be “a bright, relatively articulate man,” he also noted a troublesome flaw: “He sold drugs for profit, endangering the community through his conduct, because he preferred this to the everyday struggles of law-abiding citizens who choose legitimate employment.

“As he himself stated, he found this an easier way to make money.”