Cern, 35, hanged himself in his Richboro home Sept. 6, just hours before he was scheduled to appear in court for his preliminary hearing.
Cern's suicide put prosecutors in an unusual situation because, under normal circumstances, such property forfeiture does not occur until after a suspect is convicted in criminal court.
Cern's estate, administered by his mother, Virginia Boruta, contested prosecutors' plans to take her son's fortune in cars and real estate under the state Drug Forfeiture Law, which demands that any property used to sell drugs or acquired by drug-sale proceeds be forfeited.
But on Friday, the issue was settled when Bucks County Judge John J. Rufe - with agreement from both parties - ordered the estate to turn over the cars and three properties to the District Attorney's Office to be sold at auction.
Four other properties that prosecutors seized after Cern's arrest will be returned to the estate. Boruta said she had not determined whether she would sell any of the properties.
John Kerrigan, who represented Cern's estate, said the cost of the case would have been "staggering" if it had gone to court.
The forfeited real estate, valued at $255,337, includes Cern's two-story home on Second Street Pike in Richboro, two garages on Old Lincoln Highway in Middletown Township, and a house he rented out on Madison Avenue in Warminster Township.
The value of the automobiles is estimated at $240,000.
In June, police seized 113 pounds of marijuana from one of the garages on Old Lincoln Highway. Cern faced a mandatory nine-year prison sentence.
Not seized was Cern's business, Beverly Hills Limousines, in Penndel, which Gibbons described as a legitimate business that Cern ran for years before detectives began investigating him. Boruta has taken over the business, which has continued to operate since Cern's arrest, and renamed it Hollywood Limousines Service Inc.
Gibbons said she would sell the automobiles at the District Attorney's Drug Forfeiture Sale on June 8 and 9 at the Thiokol property on New Falls Road in Levittown. The Traiman Auction Co. of Philadelphia is planning to auction the real estate in June. Proceeds from the sales will be used for future drug investigations, Gibbons said.
Boruta says the settlement brings her no peace.
"I need it to be over. I'm a mom who has not had time to grieve for my only son," she said. "John was never proven guilty."
Stephanie Doster's e-mail address is sdoster@phillynews.com.
