alkemyst
No Lifer
- Feb 13, 2001
- 83,769
- 19
- 81
The $10k deal is a myth as well, a bank can report any large withdrawl to them...just that many set this at that limit because I think this is the min IRS requires on cash transfers.
I believe in all US states travelling with large amounts of currency is a crime. This is not so much to do with the war on drugs as it has to do with becoming a target and thus making those around you possible collateral damage.
People go through great lengths to rob a bank only to net out less than six figures many times. You pack a quarter million in your 1989 Buick Skylark, you may have just brought down a city block esp. if no one else knew you had that kind of cash on you.
If this guy was open about the money from the start and could readily prove it's source and purpose chances are he may have been just fined. Not all states will confiscate the money either, some will bar you admission back through until you can prove 100% where it came from.
I would be suspicious of this guy's story.
That kind of activity (seizing cash) has been around for awhile now,
in my county (Voulsia Fl) the sherriff used to hide up on I-95 and put
his searchlight on every car that passed by at night. When he spotted
a "suspicious" car Ie: ethnic person with bling jewlery was seen he got
pulled over for "lane weaving" or following to closely then of course the
dog comes out sniffs the car and cash is found. Then they would offer
the person a choice, forfit 13K of the 20 you had on you or we will keep
it all and you can try to get it back in court. They bought some real expensive
toys with the cash, choppers with IR, high tech stuff for the SWAT boys
ect. personally, I think most all of the cash was going to be used for
drug buy but the point is the letter of law should prevent this from
happening in the first place!
in my county (Voulsia Fl) the sherriff used to hide up on I-95 and put
his searchlight on every car that passed by at night. When he spotted
a "suspicious" car Ie: ethnic person with bling jewlery was seen he got
pulled over for "lane weaving" or following to closely then of course the
dog comes out sniffs the car and cash is found. Then they would offer
the person a choice, forfit 13K of the 20 you had on you or we will keep
it all and you can try to get it back in court. They bought some real expensive
toys with the cash, choppers with IR, high tech stuff for the SWAT boys
ect. personally, I think most all of the cash was going to be used for
drug buy but the point is the letter of law should prevent this from
happening in the first place!
Too bad that no one told that guy about prepaid credit cards...!
All US money has some small amount of cocaine residual on it (small trace amounts). Unfortunately thanks to the drug runners (smugglers) etc... having very large amounts of money on you like that and being foreign, or poor / rough looking makes them profile you as such.
And I'm sorry but this whole thing about being innocent until being proven guilty is just crap in this country. The media condemns the Sh** out of you before you ever have your day in court. Your life is ruined before you ever have your day in court. And not to mention even if you are proven innocent there are so many people out there who make up there minds about you because of the media and treat you like dirt after you are set free.
All US money has some small amount of cocaine residual on it (small trace amounts). Unfortunately thanks to the drug runners (smugglers) etc... having very large amounts of money on you like that and being foreign, or poor / rough looking makes them profile you as such.
And I'm sorry but this whole thing about being innocent until being proven guilty is just crap in this country. The media condemns the Sh** out of you before you ever have your day in court. Your life is ruined before you ever have your day in court. And not to mention even if you are proven innocent there are so many people out there who make up there minds about you because of the media and treat you like dirt after you are set free.
And I believe that you are grossly misinformed sir. At the least, it would create a massive double standard. Are you saying that a suspected drug dealer can wear a half-million dollar platinum and diamond necklace/pendant and get to legally posess that, but some poor schmuck can't move around a couple grand? What kind of nanny state do we live in if people like you actually think that we make things illegal because it would "make you a target?"
It's not illegal to leave a ferarri enzo unlocked with its doors open in the ghetto, but you want it/or think it is illegal to move some money around, even if you have a legitimate reason and nobody can prove otherwise.
IF you ever need to move money QUICKLY between two accounts, nothing is faster than cash. EFT's can take 24 hours. Even bank certified checks can take days to clear. Are you going to tell me that getting cash for such a purpose should also be illegal and subject to confiscation??
WTF?
damn...and I thought Australia sucked ass, at least our justice system is too gutless to attempt something like this.
Dude, you are dense.
Again, if you get stopped with a bunch of cash, and YOU ARE HONEST TO THE COPS WHEN ASKED ABOUT IT, you likely won't get your cash taken.
People keep missing the point here: They guy was only stopped for speeding, and he lied to the cops several times during the stop.
After asking to search the car, the cops found the money. The driver had been asked if he had any large sums of money in the car already.
He was suspicious to the cops from the start. This was not a case of him simply cooperating with the cops the whole time and they took his money anyway just because it was a large amount.
um.... where did you get this BS.. he didnt lie to anyone.. he didnt speak english well..
the story clearly states his story checked out but they dont care...
did you fail reading comprehension?
Again.....READ THE FVCKING DOCUMENT. The story in a news article is irrelevant.
What matters is the court document linked.
Read it, and you'll see that the subject lied to the cops several time during the stop, which is why they were suspicious to start with.
And his story DID NOT check out with what he told the cops.
I'll list a few points from the document:
He twice told the cop he had never been arrested. Later the cop found out he had been arrested for a DWI previously.
He lied about whose name the rental was in.
He lied when asked if there were any large amounts of cash in the car. They found the money inside a cooler, wrapped up in foil.
Again, read the court document before you start questioning my post. All I'm saying is, the cops had plenty reason to be suspicious, regardless of whether it ended up in a conviction or not.
"Likely" being the key word. Honestly, if I was a minority with a large sum of cash in my car, even for legal reasons, I too would be suspicious of cops pulling me over. It's fvcking BS that they stole the money. I understand them seizing the money, but after no evidence in court proved it was related to drugs other than a dog barked at a freaking rental car they should have returned it. This is straight up theft.
And I don't disagree with that at all. I think the cops had plenty cause to seize the money, but with what evidence they ultimately came up with, the money should have been returned, even though I personally believe it probably was drug money.
quakefiend420
Lifer
- Aug 26, 2004
- 14,685
- 1
- 76
or you'll just get robbed for it by a crooked cop and it'll never even make it into the system where you at least have a small chance of getting it back
i'm sorry, but if i was pulled over with 100K, there's no way i would tell the cop i had it...i'd be afraid he would take it from me, and i don't mean confiscate it...besides...it's NONE OF HIS BUSINESS
brandonbull
Diamond Member
- May 3, 2005
- 6,338
- 1,215
- 126
rudder
Lifer
- Nov 9, 2000
- 19,441
- 86
- 91
One would think the story could eaily be verified. Did the police contact the seller of the truck? Did his named associated have any criminal records? How did he fly to Chicago with that much money and not be noticed by security? Why not fly back... it is cheaper than gas + one way rental fee. There are too many unanswered questions.
Triumph
Lifer
- Oct 9, 1999
- 15,031
- 13
- 81
Stashing your cash in your mattress is common practice among immigrants. They don't trust banks. They also don't trust cops (particularly Mexicans) because of how notoriously corrupt the cops are in Mexico. If this had happened in Mexico, the cops would have taken half of the money for themselves and arrested him for the other half, no doubt about it.
I'm not saying he isn't a dumbass, he should get with the program in the States, but this is why he had a large amount of money and why he lied to the cops. He needs a bit more naturalization, I think. Regardless of all of that, no crime was proven, give the man back his money.
I'm not saying he isn't a dumbass, he should get with the program in the States, but this is why he had a large amount of money and why he lied to the cops. He needs a bit more naturalization, I think. Regardless of all of that, no crime was proven, give the man back his money.
Presumption of innocence out the window I guess.
So now if you happen to live in a drug infested neighbourhood, you automatically must be a dealer who or a user.
Or if you are black driving around in an affluent neighbourhood, you must be a thief, a drug dealer or a pimp.
Give me a break...
Vic
Elite Member
- Jun 12, 2001
- 50,422
- 14,333
- 136
Yep. I work in banking and my experience with immigrants and resident aliens is that their trust in banks is usually a lot less than ours. Mattress money is common. Different cultures have different ways of dealing with money and financial matters, and frequently have difficulty adjusting to our ways.
As to the corruption issue, we have that too. The police will get the $124k to add to their budget. So basically they stole it all.
The reference to the war on drugs is just a red herring to cover up the theft.
Whether or not he lied is immaterial. The only evidence against the guy is that he lied and that a dog smelled drugs on the money. If it is against the law to lie, then he is guilty of breaking that law - but the fact that so much American currency has trace amounts of cocaine on it means that the second point is meaningless.
From what I understand, there is nothing beyond circumstancial evidence that indicates this man is guilty. So, the court is saying I don't believe you therefore you must be guilty - not too far from the Spanish Inquisition.
These are all good reasons to detain the man and do further research - agreed.
But they are not good enough reasons to refuse to return 124K dollars.
Nothing but circumstancial evidence. Doesn't prove anything.
Are we lowering the bar for convictions or is just in this one case? Remember precidence folks....
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.
US Court of Appeals, Eighth CircuitA 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.
The full text of the ruling is available in a 36k PDF file at the source link below.
where does it say any of that in the story?? where?
I dont trust ANYTHING cops say or do.. they change things as they wish to make them sound as good or as bad as they wish them to..
as for having large amounts of cash on you.. SO what... a decent portion of peeps I have met in my life DO NOT BELIEVE IN BANKS.. or otherwise dont keep anything in the bank.. they make all thier purchases in pure cash..
yes this may seem a bit wierd in this day and age but there are peeps like that out there..
they dont trust checks/MOs/CCs...
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