Mr. Caswell should be compensated for this outrageous abuse of private property rights and the Constitution by government agents seeking quick cash.

I know there will be a lot of negative comments about this motel, the people that use, the effect on property value and on and on, but none of that has any bearing on the merits of this action and the abuse of government power that this case represents.

Good for him. Classic over-reach of Big Government sticking their nose where it did not belong. As many pointed out Motel 6 is a bigger offender.

Besides...if drugs, prostitution and crimes are the benchmarks for Government intervention then Roxbury, Humboldt Avenue, Lawrence, Brockton and many many more places should be "seized" ASAP by our over reaching Government.

What a waste of Government resources and It actually makes me wonder who or what was "after" this Man's property.

Well I guess the system really does work.

I really didn't want the Casewell Family to lose their investment but now that it has been decided that there will be no forfeiture of the property, why can't the family take a better look at who they rent their rooms to. Perhaps a full-time security guard should be stationed at the motel so that the problems that have developed there over time would start to wind down. My motto is: Run a clean business and no one would ever complain. This would be the least they could do to bring back the people of this Town's confidence. By the way, the same should be said for the Motel 6.

There are just as many drug deals at Motel 6 and the home depot parking lot
as there is at the caswell. I don`t see the cash strapped Feds. or the town trying to steal their property.

Glad you won. That never should have happened...NOW CLEAN UP YOUR MESS

rusty old buddie so glad for you.all i can say is great great great

I want to echo what has been stated. It is a great day for our Republic that the little guy has beaten back Big Brother!
Having said that, I would ask and hope that Mr. Caswell heard those of us in town that supported his cause but have concerns. In the months and years ahead we the citizens of Tewksbury will see just how good of a neighbor Mr. Caswell wishes to be. Time will tell.

I don't think this property should have been seized but I think the owner should be embarrassed by what his dump of a property represents. Have some pride and either take care of your property or sell it. There is no conceivable way this guy could not know that he is running a haven for drug dealers and prostitutes. I hope someone sues his pants off when some streetwalker ends up dead in one of his heart-shaped jacuzzi's. Motel 6 should also be held accountable for the lowlife trash that frequents that shanty as well.

Congratulations to the Caswell family the government had no right to take their motel away I love the Caswell!

Great day for the little guy, bad day for Tewksbury. That dump is total blight on the town.

Congrats to the Caswell's! Why don't the police HELP the town and patrol the areas that are known for drugs? which also includes Walmart, Home Depot, Motel 6. If it becomes known among dealers that the cops are always around maybe the town will improve and drug dealing will go down.

I do have a question for everyone that is congratulating "Rusty". Are you ok with paying the taxes to subsidize his business for the tens of thousands of dollars (conservative estimate) in police/fire/ambulance services and overtime that his business has cost this town over the years??? If every business in Tewksbury had the same usage rate the town would be bankrupt. The system defintely works to his advantage because he would not be able to mainatain his business at a profit if he had to pay for the services he requires.

Not only have the Caswell's been close family friends forever, they are my neighbors and I see how hard they work every single day! This never should have ever been allowed to happen to them. They are a wonderful family and would never turn a blind eye to any wrong doings! They have no idea what is going on behind closed doors! So a big congrats to Russ, Pat, Julie, Jay and the rest of the family. I couldn't be happier for you all.

Great...he gets to keep it. Now sell it, as that crack addict magnet has had it's time. Keep all those undesirables on the other side of 495.

And Susan, just because some loon of a judge decided in the Caswell's favor, you can't convince a reasonable person that they had absolutely no idea of what goes on there. No way. When I lived 20 miles away over a decade ago, that swill pit was legendary for its easy access to drugs and gross companions. If people in another County know, how can the "head in the sand" owners not be aware. Total pile of crap...

I am happy that a business owner was not stripped of his property. With that said this place has been host to thousands of arrests for everything from prostitution, drugs, rapes, assaults, kidnapping, and even suicides have been discovered in the rooms. Over many decades this place has always been a known stopping point for people that were up to no good. They saw it as being close enough to Lowell and Lawrence to deal the drugs but further removed from the magnify glass. If the police ignored the history and the high level and seriousness of the activity, they would not be doing their job. It is never a good thing for a business owner to have his business and property seized, but I hope the owner finally admits that he knows what has gone on there for years and bulldoze the property and sell the land for a hefty price. If the rest of the town knew, the owner knew so let's be honest already.

Good for the caswells.....now take care of the crime and hire security. Let these low lifes know that you will not tolerate these crimes to go on.

That was a total waste of taxpayers money. The people 1 the govt 0. Congrats to the Caswell family.

Happy to hear that this property was not seized by the Government. Justice prevails in this case. Let's just hope Mr. Caswell does not get sued by people claiming "discrimination" for not renting to certain individuals, if he takes on some of the suggestions certain folks are submitting in this forum.

I just love the people who think if you Demo the Caswell drug addiction and drug traffic is going to just go away in Tewksbury If you want to Demo Caswell for being an eyesore, Than Demo all of RT 38, Government attorneys cited 15 specific incidents that had taken place between 1994 and 2008. That does not sound like thousands. To the person who stated we subsidize his business for the tens of thousands of dollars. How wrong can you be we as taxpayers are paying that anyways. The Government is just getting larger and larger very happy the little guy beat this Socialist Government. Gives me hope not to give up. Scary times, can not believe this went to FED court for 15 incidents over 14years. If as a town if we spent more time trying to save the Castle on Catamount instead of trying to destroy a small business we would all be better off.

David , your statement that "To the person who stated we subsidize his business for the tens of thousands of dollars. How wrong can you be we as taxpayers are paying that anyways" makes me think you really like to pay taxes. Don't you think that the Caswell uses more than their share of town services compared to other businesses in town ( except Motel 6)? The statement is also misguided because many of the costs are exclusive to the Caswell. A good example is police overtime for all of the court cases specific to his business where police have to testify.

A huge majority of service calls come from the Tewksbury State Hospital,more so than the motel.

The U.S. Attorney's Office should now take action against the White House as it had long been a hotspot for crime and waste.

Jim what are you talking about the Fed’s stated 15 incidents in 14 years how does this add up to tens of thousands of dollars in subsidize dollars No I do not like paying taxes and no I do not want to pay for the guaranteed health care and pensions that Fed and State workers get for the rest of their lives. Remember Caswell is a taxable business for the Town of Tewksbury. All I see on RT 38 is empty store fronts and empty parking lots sounds like the Caswell have been paying their so called subsidizes’ to the Town since 1955 seems like they paid for there town services.

Congratulations go to Rusty and The Caswell family, every once and a while justice is served. The Motel Caswell serves a need to the community and now that the case is over with, they will keep the place as clean as possible. It was great news to wake up to.

What an outstanding array of comments and attitudes--some informed, some naive!

How much did the residents of the town pay for the 3 years' worth of Legal Fees to lose that case?

Of course, Mr. Caswell knows who he rents to! He checks them in and he places most of the calls to the PD for assistance.

Shoot up, OD, rivived, ER, back again.

Yes, it's thousands of calls, over the years; only 15 went to Court.

Motel 6 was The Holiday Inn before, remember? That location has its lengthy history, too.

No, the Town won't go after Motel 6 or the other Hotel chains in town becuase they are large chains; huge corporations. You and I cannot afford that--as if we could have afforded this one.

I've been told by "informed individuals" you can see the bed bugs walking around in those rooms.

I'd hate to go in there with a black light!

I, too, am glad to see a family business not confiscated. And, given that this has been decades' worth of a battle with the Town, I don't think The Caswell's should be compensated one penny, as suggested above--if anything, the other way around. Years and years of warnings and complaints, not just 15 from one year.

No, the type of person turned away will not have the means to sue anyone! lol.

They may be nice people, but it's a dirty business. Maybe they would like to consider turning it into a Teen Center for kids, or something that would give both the family and the town a facelift and a more positive purpose.

Now, the Jade gets to stay in business, too . . .

Well it would be nice to know if the TPD has tried to work with the Caswells on how to prevent certain crimes from happening there. I have also heard that the motel does keep a log and don't rent to certain individuals if they are on that list, but I am not sure how true that is.... Can they even do that legally? I am assuming they can by presenting them with "no trespass" papers. I have heard of individuals being banned from other establishments because they are problematic. I am assuming the Caswells can do the same thing? As far as keeping that place clean? Looks pretty clean from the outside to me, everytime I drive by it. I can't say that for some other property owners in Tewksbury, their yards look like a dump!

So Janellen27, are you stating that we as residents of this town paid for the 3 years' worth of Legal Fees for this case out of our taxes? It came out of the towns budget? If so, how much did the town subsidize for these lawyers fees? I'm finding this hard to believe, but please enlighten me with the facts. I would be very interested in hearing them.....

TONY D & Honest Joe: Please share all the information that you are "privy to", and stop the bullying.

TONY D wrote: "If you think that the Route 110 corridor in Westford resembles Route 28 in Salem NH there is no sense discussing the difference. The residents of Westford would be appalled by your comparison. Take a walk, not a drive, down Route 38 in Tewksbury. You will see so much trash along the sides of the road. It is disgusting. I used to walk 4-5 miles every other day but got discouraged looking at the trash and the lack, or condition, of the sidewalks. Town and private property all along Main Street is deplorable."

Oh, Tony . . . Please. It was clear I was referring to the massive build-up of business along Rt. 110 between Littleton and Chelmsford--specifically the Westford stretch. I said nothing about trash or anything else other than the development of business and retail.

No need to bring Rt. 38 into the discussion at all. Simply comparing when my siblings had their homes built in Westford in the sixties to today in 2013. It was empty and now it's a traffic jam. That's all.

If you don't like the trash along Rt. 38, you're welcome to form a few local clean-up days. It appears some people don't know it's their job to "keep America clean" and that there are steep fines for littering, unfortuantely. Such values are taught by parents in homes; looks like some parents skipped over that part, I agree. Where did you grow up, by the way? And, what landed you here in Tewksbury. You don't seem to care much for the town yourself.

Not for nothing but how many of the other hotel/motel facilities would take in a person or family who had next to nothing for funds that just lost everything or have very little left? I'd bank the hotel chains would tell you "oh well nothing we can do" while Russ wouldn't think twice given that same person/family a second chance to get back on their feet. With that being said while his venue has a terrible reputation with the characters a bind eye has been turned to there needs to be more like this. You negative nelly's are going to have your opinion about it but think about the worst case scenario.. you just lost everything, you have no where to go, it's cold out, your kids are whiney, you need a day to recoop and get a game plan set up... Russ would be the best bet to take you in no questions asked. I agree Russ needs to come up with a better way to keep these junk bags out.. I agree TPD and Russ should set up monthly meetings to coordinate the safety of the venue and town. Lets face it Tewksbury is going to Hell in a handbasket and quickly. When authorities work together with business owners there's a way to make a bad situation into a better one.

P.S. We're all entitled to our opinions whether anyone likes it or not. This is my opinion - like it or hate it doesn't matter to me. I expressed my opinion just like the rest of you. Perhaps you should realize this happens everywhere.

You want to say that again in English maybe? Tewksburys a great town. everyone loves it here. Realize what "happens everywhere"? A little conflicted among your many selves, RB?

Pretty clear you don't like it here, Tony. That's why I asked you where you grew up and what landed you here. I think it's more like people who grew up here love it--probably because most of us tend to love our home towns and the memories they hold. Nevermind, beating a dead horse on this thread.