Quote :

"Deputies seize $88,000 in cash in traffic stop BY SEAN JAREM, Davidson County Dispatch 9/27/06 Two men traveling south on Interstate 85 southwest of Lexington Tuesday told Davidson County sheriff's deputies that the $88,000 in cash they had hidden in their car was to buy a house in Atlanta. Officers with the sheriff office's Interstate Criminal Enforcement unit didn't believe the story after a drug-sniffing dog found a strong odor of narcotics inside the car. No drugs were found, and the two men weren't charged with a crime, but officers did keep the money, citing a federal drug assets seizure and forfeiture law. Deputies first stopped the car for following too closely to another vehicle, said Davidson County Sheriff David Grice. The two men told officers they had flown from Texas to New Jersey and were driving south to Atlanta to buy a house with the money, Grice said. Federal investigators arrived and took the cash in order to make a case in federal court that the money would fall under federal forfeiture laws. If a federal judge agrees with investigators, the Davidson County Sheriff's Office would receive 75 percent ($66,000) of the confiscated money. "It takes about a year for the money to come back to the county," Grice said. The money then would make its way into the sheriff's office general fund, where it could only be used for enhancement purposes, such as new equipment or additional training. Grice said as a general rule the sheriff's office cannot count on forfeiture money, noting the money isn't a sure thing and can fluctuate from year to year. But the Davidson County Sheriff's Office has had positive results in the past after bringing in $1.6 million in 2005 and $1.4 million in 2004. This year Grice said officers have brought in about $400,000. "It allows us to buy equipment without using taxpayers' money," Grice said. Replacing older vehicles, installing newer radios in patrol cars and installing a new camera system in the jail were all paid for by drug forfeiture money, Grice said."

Apparantly, it is now illegal to drive around with a lot of cash in your car.

10/11/2006 10:43:21 AM

how

the fuck

is this possible

10/11/2006 10:46:20 AM

It has been for quite awhile:

Quote :

"A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that if a motorist is carrying large sums of money, it is automatically subject to confiscation. In the case entitled, “United States of America v. $124,700 in U.S. Currency,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit took that amount of cash away from Emiliano Gomez Gonzolez, a man with a “lack of significant criminal history” neither accused nor convicted of any crime. On May 28, 2003, a Nebraska state trooper signaled Gonzolez to pull over his rented Ford Taurus on Interstate 80. The trooper intended to issue a speeding ticket, but noticed the Gonzolez’s name was not on the rental contract. The trooper then proceeded to question Gonzolez – who did not speak English well – and search the car. The trooper found a cooler containing $124,700 in cash, which he confiscated. A trained drug sniffing dog barked at the rental car and the cash. For the police, this was all the evidence needed to establish a drug crime that allows the force to keep the seized money. Associates of Gonzolez testified in court that they had pooled their life savings to purchase a refrigerated truck to start a produce business. Gonzolez flew on a one-way ticket to Chicago to buy a truck, but it had sold by the time he had arrived. Without a credit card of his own, he had a third-party rent one for him. Gonzolez hid the money in a cooler to keep it from being noticed and stolen. He was scared when the troopers began questioning him about it. There was no evidence disputing Gonzolez’s story."

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/12/1296.asp

10/11/2006 10:47:49 AM

if your lawyer is worth a fuck you'll get all the money back

10/11/2006 10:48:59 AM

Should also get that asshole cop's head on a platter. He just wants a new laptop for his fucking squad car.

10/11/2006 10:50:03 AM

fucking davidson county bullshit


THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PEOPLE LET THE GOVERNMENT DO AS IT PLEASES WITH YOUR FUCKING RIGHTS

10/11/2006 10:59:46 AM

this is completely retarded

10/11/2006 11:02:20 AM

Is Sherriff Hege (sp?) still in charge in Davidson county? If so, I would NOT want to fuck with him. He has (or had, about 10 years ago when i first became aware of him) incredible popular support, locally, state wide and even nationally. Of course, as ^^ said, the popular support for his hard-nosed tactics could easily turn into a major abuse of power

10/11/2006 11:24:21 AM

he went to jail last I heard

spent county money on personal motorcycles and such

didn't help that he was involved in two shootouts with his personal MP-5 that resulted in the target being hit a whopping 0 times

but yet he wouldn't sign for class 3 weapons for civilians

fuck that guy, I used to be a fan of his, but I learned alot from deputies that worked under him

10/11/2006 11:30:36 AM

Well, I don't think its right either, but I'd say if you examine the guy's story he's probably lying about the money.

Why don't you ask him to identify the house and verify that he's made an offer or at least contacted the owner. See if he's called any banks to talk about a mortgage (unless that's what the house costs) etc.

They should be able to keep the money if they found no drugs or anything, but I do think their is cause to at least examine their story.

10/11/2006 11:30:42 AM

Quote :

"the popular support for his hard-nosed tactics could easily turn into a major abuse of power "

So true. What do Davidson County citizens care if the local police fleece motorists passing through their county? Of course gov't power never stops at the point you wish and they will someday learn that lesson themselves. These cops, drunk on power, will eventually go too far.

Lonesnark is right, this type of abuse has been going on for many years in many parts of the country. Police will also confiscate cars and other property based merely on the twitch or whine of a "drug dog". Dogs can be easily trained to give you the "drug signal" whenever you want it.

Granted, it was pretty dumb to carry this much cash. They could've put it into a cashier's check or something. Heck for all we know they could've been drug dealers. But taking someone's property and then making them prove they are innocent is very very wrong.

10/11/2006 11:34:32 AM

Quote :

"fuck that guy, I used to be a fan of his, but I learned alot from deputies that worked under him"

absolute power.....


It's like all power/ego trip stories. He started off being hard nosed, which was great. Then he let it get to him and corrupt him. Good riddance.

Quote :

"Lonesnark is right, this type of abuse has been going on for many years in many parts of the country. Police will also confiscate cars and other property based merely on the twitch or whine of a "drug dog". Dogs can be easily trained to give you the "drug signal" whenever you want it."

Oh yea, I was going to say, drug dogs are certainly not infallible. How do we know they haven't been sniffing so much drug coated money in their training, that they can't distinguish from the scent of the money and the scent of the drugs.



[Edited on October 11, 2006 at 11:37 AM. Reason : a]

10/11/2006 11:35:36 AM

I mean, it's this guys word vs the cops


the court will totally believe him!!!


innocent until guilty my ass

but yeah, hegge is already long gone... it was well known, even by other LE agencies that he was shady

a bunch of his deputies got busted for stolen goods and drug rings

10/11/2006 11:40:14 AM

Quote :

"No drugs were found, and the two men weren't charged with a crime, but officers did keep the money, citing a federal drug assets seizure and forfeiture law."

Well there goes the fucking 10th AMENDMENT!

Fuck these statist thugs and the highly protected politicians they work for.

10/11/2006 2:25:36 PM

http://www.fear.org/

Quote :

"But taking someone's property and then making them prove they are innocent is very very wrong."

10/11/2006 2:47:36 PM

if a politician would actually stand up and say

THIS IS OUR CONSTITUTION

AND I AM GOING TO ABIDE BY IT

AND EVERYONE THAT WORKS UNDER ME SHALL DO THE SAME

and actually follow through with it, he could win in a landslide

10/11/2006 2:50:38 PM

You think our local government is corrupt? Try moving on up the political ladder...

10/11/2006 3:53:13 PM

Quote :

"Officers with the sheriff office's Interstate Criminal Enforcement unit didn't believe the story after a drug-sniffing dog found a strong odor of narcotics inside the car."

10/11/2006 4:06:20 PM

^^^ most people dont even know whats in the constitution.

this will not work

10/11/2006 4:09:09 PM

wow, corrupt cops. who woulda thought?

10/11/2006 4:33:20 PM

Hey guys, is this true?
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/15257742.htm?source=rss&channel=sunherald_state

Quote :

"Congress has made it illegal to carry more than $10,000 in cash in order to limit drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorism. "

If this is actually true, I abhor this law.

I heard someone talking about it at a libertarian meeting and so I decided to look it up to see if it had any relation to this story. I mean, I guess if it is against the law to carry that much cash, then they should be able to seize it. I think it shouldn't be against the law, and if it is, it should be struck down by the Courts. But if it is, it isn't crooked cops, its fucked up laws.

10/11/2006 9:50:25 PM

Wow, that story LoneSnark quoted is really fucked up.

10/11/2006 9:55:22 PM

Wow, so the US Gov now steals from its own people without any evidence of any crime? And people still say it is the best country in the world?

Quote :

"If a federal judge agrees with investigators, the Davidson County Sheriff's Office would receive 75 percent ($66,000) of the confiscated money. "It takes about a year for the money to come back to the county," Grice said. The money then would make its way into the sheriff's office general fund, where it could only be used for enhancement purposes, such as new equipment or additional training. Grice said as a general rule the sheriff's office cannot count on forfeiture money, noting the money isn't a sure thing and can fluctuate from year to year. But the Davidson County Sheriff's Office has had positive results in the past after bringing in $1.6 million in 2005 and $1.4 million in 2004. This year Grice said officers have brought in about $400,000. "It allows us to buy equipment without using taxpayers' money," Grice said."

Oh, forget taxes, we actually take your money! And that's so much better!

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE?

10/11/2006 10:02:28 PM

You could call it a severe tax on stupidity, I guess.

10/11/2006 10:12:10 PM

^WTH?

People should be free to move around as much as they wish, as long as it is clean money.

Sure, if you are driving around with 100K, the gov has a right to confiscate it to investigate, but those two stories above, there was no proof of any drugs, and they kept (STOLE) the money.

How is this right? And after this, what right does the US have to lecture other countries on freedom and human rights, let alone, invade them? Can Scandinavia invade the US to liberate it because it steals its people's money?

10/11/2006 10:16:45 PM

I wasn't being completely serious.

It's wrong, of course, but it doesn't affect Average Joe American at all. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to get away with it. I hope...

10/11/2006 10:29:46 PM

^^

Yes, but -- seriously -- the apoplectic reaction is overdone. We are protected from "unreasonable" search and seizure. There's nothing at all "unreasonable" about believing that someone driving around with 100k+ in cash (or even 88k) in his car is involved in a very serious crime.

Seriously, people. There are these things called banks. If you drive around with that much cash in your car, you're just stupid.

[Edited on October 11, 2006 at 11:56 PM. Reason : foo]

10/11/2006 11:56:01 PM

^ It is "unreasonable" to "seize" property without any evidence of wrong-doing.

"nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"
These individuals were not even charged with a crime, there is no evidence a crime has been committed, the state did not have to prove anything to deprive you of your property. "due process of law" has not taken place in these cases.

But even if you wish the cops be able to seize the cash, they should be required to eventually give it back once they are unable to make a case against you. But that is not what is happening: even if they prove the cash was destined for legal purposes it doesn't matter anymore, these people's life savings is gone. People that probably don't have bank accounts, may not be able to get one due to poor credit, people that may not speak English, and definitely have never heard that police are allowed to do this. This is America, people do not expect to be robbed at gun-point by real police officers without redress in the courts.

[Edited on October 12, 2006 at 12:14 AM. Reason : .,.]

10/12/2006 12:10:06 AM

this is quite fucked up

10/12/2006 12:30:01 AM

It's kind of a funny that a [most likely] Mexican guy had his life savings stolen by an American cop.

And we're always told it's the Mexican cops who are corrupt...

10/12/2006 12:32:28 AM

Good Luck in trying to get your money back once the drug dog barks....

Quote :

"Federal Appeals Court: Driving With Money is a Crime Eighth Circuit Appeals Court ruling says police may seize cash from motorists even in the absence of any evidence that a crime has been committed. A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that if a motorist is carrying large sums of money, it is automatically subject to confiscation. In the case entitled, "United States of America v. $124,700 in U.S. Currency," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit took that amount of cash away from Emiliano Gomez Gonzolez, a man with a "lack of significant criminal history" neither accused nor convicted of any crime. On May 28, 2003, a Nebraska state trooper signaled Gonzolez to pull over his rented Ford Taurus on Interstate 80. The trooper intended to issue a speeding ticket, but noticed the Gonzolez's name was not on the rental contract. The trooper then proceeded to question Gonzolez -- who did not speak English well -- and search the car. The trooper found a cooler containing $124,700 in cash, which he confiscated. A trained drug sniffing dog barked at the rental car and the cash. For the police, this was all the evidence needed to establish a drug crime that allows the force to keep the seized money. Associates of Gonzolez testified in court that they had pooled their life savings to purchase a refrigerated truck to start a produce business. Gonzolez flew on a one-way ticket to Chicago to buy a truck, but it had sold by the time he had arrived. Without a credit card of his own, he had a third-party rent one for him. Gonzolez hid the money in a cooler to keep it from being noticed and stolen. He was scared when the troopers began questioning him about it. There was no evidence disputing Gonzolez's story. Yesterday the Eighth Circuit summarily dismissed Gonzolez's story. It overturned a lower court ruling that had found no evidence of drug activity, stating, "We respectfully disagree and reach a different conclusion... Possession of a large sum of cash is 'strong evidence' of a connection to drug activity." Judge Donald Lay found the majority's reasoning faulty and issued a strong dissent. "Notwithstanding the fact that claimants seemingly suspicious activities were reasoned away with plausible, and thus presumptively trustworthy, explanations which the government failed to contradict or rebut, I note that no drugs, drug paraphernalia, or drug records were recovered in connection with the seized money," Judge Lay wrote. "There is no evidence claimants were ever convicted of any drug-related crime, nor is there any indication the manner in which the currency was bundled was indicative of drug use or distribution." "Finally, the mere fact that the canine alerted officers to the presence of drug residue in a rental car, no doubt driven by dozens, perhaps scores, of patrons during the course of a given year, coupled with the fact that the alert came from the same location where the currency was discovered, does little to connect the money to a controlled substance offense," Judge Lay Concluded. Source: US v. $124,700 (US Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 8/19/2006) "

10/12/2006 12:44:38 AM

As Lonesnark said...This is nothing new. Most of the time people with something to hide don't dispute the seizure of the money so it is a big incentive for law enforcement to seize first and ask questions later.

All he has to do is show proof that he pulled the money out of a bank account or earned it legally and they'll give it back to him.

Of course, he's still fucked for the money he pays his lawyer and the fact that nobody is going to hold a house for him while he sorts this all out. So basically, they take his money interest free, make him pay a lawyer to get it back, and he loses out on his investment opportunity.

So, it's a legal way to bend someone over.

10/12/2006 12:56:27 AM

Quote :

"Well, I don't think its right either, but I'd say if you examine the guy's story he's probably lying about the money. Why don't you ask him to identify the house and verify that he's made an offer or at least contacted the owner. See if he's called any banks to talk about a mortgage (unless that's what the house costs) etc."

I don't see how the story really matters. The cops were not interested in what the money was going to buy, they were interested in where it came from. If you had $88K in drug money it wouldn't suddenly make it ok just because you decided to buy a house with the money.

Quote :

"They should be able to keep the money if they found no drugs or anything, but I do think their is cause to at least examine their story."

I agree with that. The one thing that really stands out about this story is that the arresting sheriff's office gets 75% of the confiscated money. That is a huge incentive for money seizure and it can only foster corruption.

10/12/2006 7:45:58 AM

Yes, it is indeed a huge incentive for confiscating money and you're only hope is that they would be ethical enough not to abuse it, but incentives do strange things to people

Quote :

"I don't see how the story really matters. The cops were not interested in what the money was going to buy, they were interested in where it came from. If you had $88K in drug money it wouldn't suddenly make it ok just because you decided to buy a house with the money. "

Well, true, but what I was thinking is that not only was the money dirty on the way in, it was probably going to something dirty on the way out.

10/12/2006 7:50:16 AM

Quote :

"Oh, forget taxes, we actually take your money! And that's so much better! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE?"

SHUT THE FUCK UP, NO ONE GIVES TWO SHITS ABOUT YOU OR WHATEVER HOLE IN THE SAND YOU COME FROM.

yeah, our country can be fucked up at times, and people argue over shit like politics, and politicians can be shady as hell sometimes, but this country is damn sure better than any desert shithole over there, or anywhere else for that matter

and I have no problem with people that want to keep sums of cash on hand... they should be able to do so if they choose, maybe they don't want the government to know all of their business.

10/12/2006 8:17:42 AM

Quote :

"but this country is damn sure better than any desert shithole over there, or anywhere else for that matter"

hey, i don't know of any country that steals your life savings because of the twitch of a drug dog111!!! LOLOLOLOL

10/12/2006 8:33:07 AM

^^ I guess I was a dick with that comment


but anyways... we're not perfect, while our system may need tweaking and some politicians need to be dead... there is no better place on earth

10/12/2006 8:43:16 AM

Quote :

"there is no better place on earth"

I'm sure everyone says this about their own country.

10/12/2006 8:47:34 AM

I'm sure they do


whatever, I like the US... and I love NC

10/12/2006 9:01:03 AM

Quote :

"I'm sure everyone says this about their own country."

I guarantee you they don't. The people emigrating to other countries probably don't think so.

And people living on a trash dump in Manilla probably know of better places.

Pretty much every 1st world country thinks its the best place to be and if they leave their countries it only reinforces that.

I had a great time when I was abroad, but I started to miss home and our culture. That's how everyone is.

10/12/2006 9:37:03 AM

not that I hate other places... I just like being here more

10/12/2006 9:41:53 AM

Quote :

"I guarantee you they don't. The people emigrating to other countries probably don't think so."

Busting my chops eh? Well feel free to change the 'everyone' to 'a lot of people'.

10/12/2006 10:03:30 AM

I thought this thread was about more cops taking cash from Mexicans during traffic stops, like those 3 from Johnston County last year.

In other words, they'd take their wallet back to the squad car, bring it back empty and say, "This will just be a warning today. Have a nice day and drive safely." They caught those motherfuckers with an undercover internal affairs sting.

10/12/2006 10:10:32 AM

it is at the point where it is becoming an impending necessity to revolt...

10/12/2006 10:11:10 AM

Quote :

"There are these things called banks. If you drive around with that much cash in your car, you're just stupid."

Thanks for chiming in, Smoker4, but I don't recall there being a law that says everybody HAS to use banks. Keeping your savings at home is NOT against the law.

Stupid, yes.

BUT, are you seriously saying that gives the right to the authorities to take it and buy police equipment?

Quote :

"There's nothing at all "unreasonable" about believing that someone driving around with 100k+ in cash (or even 88k) in his car is involved in a very serious crime."

Oh, so now we convict people and steal their money based on "reasonable" statments? TO HELL WITH HAVING PROOF OR EVIDENCE!!!

Isn't that fascism?

[I know what anybody's rebuttal to my post is going to be... LOLOLOLOL... you live in a shit hole arab country you sand nigger, and that's very democratic LOLOLOLOL.

So, don't bother.

10/12/2006 10:18:10 AM

Quote :

"Oh, so now we convict people and steal their money based on "reasonable" statments?"

that's not what he said.
Police do have the right to seach your car given "reasonable cause". In this case, the supposed reasonable cause was a drug dog giving some signal. As such, they had "reasonable cause" to seize suspicious items in the car, such as rolling papers, "tobacco pipes", or large sums of money, even if no explicitly illegal items were found.

up to this point, i don't think anything is out of the bounds of what police can do. What comes next, though, is the serious issue. If the driver is not charged with any crime (drug trafficing, bank robbery, whatever), then the cops should return every red cent back to him and he should be on his merry way. If he is charged with an actual crime and the money can be used as supporting evidence, then the seizure probably has some validity.

and having said that, I would hope (but highly doubt) that any money that is seized is held in a non-interest bearing escrow account until a full investigation and perhaps trial is performed. If the person is convicted of a crime that directly involves the money in question (aquired the money illegally, was going to use it to buy drugs, etc) then they should then transfer the money from escrow to the city or county or whoever. But if the person is aquitted or convicted of a crime non-related to the money, it should be returned to him ASAP. The county should not gain any benefit from holding the money.

10/12/2006 10:32:38 AM

10/12/2006 11:38:17 AM

Quote :

"I know what anybody's rebuttal to my post is going to be... LOLOLOLOL... you live in a shit hole arab country you sand nigger, and that's very democratic LOLOLOLOL."

LOLOOLOLOLOL

almost as retarded as your stupid comments every time something 'bad' happens in this country.

OMG AMERIKA ISNT PERFECT WHO THE FUCK WOULD WANT TO LIVE THERE

shut the fuck up you hypocrite

10/12/2006 12:03:23 PM

why in the hell would you carry around 88 grr or 124 grr in your car while speeding on the interstate?

10/12/2006 1:00:09 PM

^^^^

I said the same thing:

Quote :

"People should be free to move around as much as they wish, as long as it is clean money. Sure, if you are driving around with 100K, the gov has a right to confiscate it to investigate, but those two stories above, there was no proof of any drugs, and they kept (STOLE) the money."

10/12/2006 2:21:39 PM