Countywide : Drug Dealer Loses Guitar Collection
A convicted drug dealer from Thousand Oaks officially gave up his collection of 87 vintage electric guitars Monday to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
The exotic old guitars, valued at $150,000 to $250,000, will be auctioned off some time in the next two years, along with houses, boats and other spoils from county narcotics raids, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael J. Smith. The next sheriff’s auction for such property has not been scheduled.
The guitars’ owner, William Herbert Budnik, was arrested Sept. 20, 1989, after sheriff’s deputies searched his home in the 4200 block of Potrero Road and seized five pounds of hydroponically grown marijuana. Deputies also seized Budnik’s 1988 Camaro, $76,155 in cash and the guitars, alleging that they were bought with drug profits.
Budnik pleaded guilty and is serving a one-year sentence for possession of marijuana for sale. In February, he and fellow collector Michael Linss, who was not arrested, denied the allegation and claimed that they acquired the money, car and guitars legally.
But on Thursday, they filed papers to rescind their claims, and Superior Court Judge Joe D. Hadden approved the move on Monday.
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