NationStates Jolt Archive

A guy with no criminal record and no illegal substances in his rental car was pulled over, searched, and the police confiscated $124,700 of his money. The guy had a good explanation for carrying such a sum, but the courts have allowed the police to confiscate his money anyway.

What the fuck is going on in this country? Don't we have a right to property? I think in the interest of justice the families of the police and judges should be raped and tortured to death while the police and judges watch then the corrupt authority figures should be force-fed the corpses until their bellies are distended and near bursting. Then the guy who's money they took should be allowed to kick them in the gut until they burst.

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

In Soviet Russia, the party finds you!!!

And then robs you of all your eartly posessions.

Pretty standard actually. I've read of several cases of business's that give discounts for cash transactions and their customers having it confiscated because it's "suspicious".

In America, police take your money. In Soviet Russia, we have no money!

This is bullshit. They probably just did it because it was a Hispanic guy who spoke no English driving a truck, and as we know all Hispanic guys with money and trucks are drug dealers.:rolleyes:

Yeah, that is fucking retarded.

Which just goes to show that if you're transporting large amounts of money, cash is not your best bet. I like bearer bonds, myself. They don't weight as much, too, an added bonus.

I'm betting there is a little more to the story.

Its not the drug dog barking at the car & money, though. We're all aware that paper currency all has a degree of drug residue on it and its not crazy to thing the rental had drugs at one time or another.

There are other circumstances to this tale though.

In America, police take your money. In Soviet Russia, we have no money!

This is bullshit. They probably just did it because it was a Hispanic guy who spoke no English driving a truck, and as we know all Hispanic guys with money and trucks are drug dealers.:rolleyes:


No-not all, just most.

The US fucked up? You don't say...

Oh, great- Drunk Commies had to rub the lamp.

Now we get the genie.

Stupid. If he did manage to buy the truck, he and his friend would've been audited by the IRS/FBI. why? all purchaces that has LARGE amounts of CASH involved, is flagged and investigated.

why didn't he go to a bank and change the cash to a cashier's check or money order?

No-not all, just most.

Now it's not a stereotype, because we didn't say all Hispanic men are like that...

Stupid. If he did manage to buy the truck, he and his friend would've been audited by the IRS/FBI. why? all purchaces that has LARGE amounts of CASH involved, is flagged and investigated.

why didn't he go to a bank and change the cash to a cashier's check or money order?

because there is more to the story....

*Reads DCD's mind.*
Quick, somebody arrest Bill Gates!
wrong... the key word is Cash, not money.

I'm betting there is a little more to the story.

Its not the drug dog barking at the car & money, though. We're all aware that paper currency all has a degree of drug residue on it and its not crazy to thing the rental had drugs at one time or another.

There are other circumstances to this tale though.

Read the decision, it's in pdf at the bottom of the page. There are no other details.

Possession of a large sum of cash is 'strong evidence' of a connection to drug activity

Quick, somebody arrest Bill Gates!

This is why all drug dealers should be required by law to accept only checks made out to them by name. Also, all drug dealers should be registered. That will prevent any future screw-ups like this one.

This is why all drug dealers should be required by law to accept only checks made out to them by name. Also, all drug dealers should be registered. That will prevent any future screw-ups like this one.

If we legalized some drugs, there wouldn't be the kind of black market that leads to such high-value cash transactions...

Read the decision, it's in pdf at the bottom of the page. There are no other details.


the guy's story is full of holes.

And the money was in a plastic bag, wrapped in foil-bundled.

the guy's story is full of holes.

And the money was in a plastic bag, wrapped in foil-bundled.

The govt provided no expert testimony to prove that the way the money was bundled made it more or less likely to be use in a drugs transaction. The other cases used as precedent all had the money linked to drug use by something such as it being found with drug paraphinelia or there being a strong smell of drug use on the custodian of the cash, this case didn't. The govt never provided a rebuttal to the explaination provided by the guy as to why he had the cash. The onus is on the prosecution to prove that the money is for anything other than a legal purchase, something they didn't bother to do in this case.

Stupid. If he did manage to buy the truck, he and his friend would've been audited by the IRS/FBI. why? all purchaces that has LARGE amounts of CASH involved, is flagged and investigated.

why didn't he go to a bank and change the cash to a cashier's check or money order?

I don't think they were trying to avoid taxes by paying cash. Cash is the simplest and easiest way to make purchases when two people don't speak a common language. Both people can read the numbers and count the cash themselves.

The language issue effects your second comment as well. Please say "May you please change a large amount of cash into a cashier's check or money odrer for me?" in spanish. If you find this difficult because you do not speak spanish fluently, you can imagine the man's position.

the guy's story is full of holes.

And the money was in a plastic bag, wrapped in foil-bundled.
So what? It's his property. Even if he might have been considering buying drugs, he hasn't yet and the police couldn't prove that he was planning to buy drugs anyway. It's kind of like assuming a guy is going to have his wife killed if he's just bitching about his marriage in public.

the guy's story is full of holes.

And the money was in a plastic bag, wrapped in foil-bundled.

What does 'foil-bundled' mean? How does that effect anything? Do you have a link?

So what? It's his property. Even if he might have been considering buying drugs, he hasn't yet and the police couldn't prove that he was planning to buy drugs anyway. It's kind of like assuming a guy is going to have his wife killed if he's just bitching about his marriage in public.


It looks more like the sale was complete and he had the proceeds

interesting...
Gonzolez indicated that a person named “Luis” had rented the car for him, but the name “Luis” did not match the name on the rental agreement that he presented to Trooper Bigsby.so, Gonzolez's name is not on the rental agreement, and neither is the name of the man he [Gonzolez] said rented the car for him. perhaps they should check with the rental company...

Trooper Bigsby went directly to the rear passenger side of the vehicle and opened a cooler that was in the back seat, where he found a large plastic bag that contained seven bundles wrapped in rubber bands inside
aluminum foil packaging. These bundles contained a total of $124,700 in currency.Because that's the ONLY way to transport cash... and cash is only wrapped in Aluminum foil, and then placed in a large plastic bag, inside a cooler.

Caradori testified that Rico alerted to the defendant currency but not to the money borrowed from the troopers.So not ALL MONEY contains residues of drugs...

the circumstances of Gonzolez’s travel, and Gonzolez’s initial false denials that he was carrying cash or that he had a criminal historySo he lied... several times...
Bigsby and Brownell also inquired whether any alcohol, guns, marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin, or large amounts of cash were in the car, and Gonzolez answered no.


In addition, the unidentified friend alerted Gonzolez that it was
“bad” to carry more than $10,000 in cash on your person.
So Gonzolez has a friend he knows nothing about... right. guess Gonzolez has short term Amnesa since he also forgot about the cash he was carrying.

and added to the fact that he was warned about carrying large amounts of cash, why wasn't it then converted to a banker's check or something...

He said that he lied about the money and about the names of other parties involved, because he believed that carrying large amounts of cash might be illegal, and he did not want to get his friends in trouble.and here he admits to lying to the authorities. guess what.... people also RUN from the police because they are afraid of something minor.... and they end up arrested for something major!

the moral of the story.... Don't lie to any police officer. If you don't understand him, ask for a translator, but never lie to any police officer.

interesting...
so, Gonzolez's name is not on the rental agreement, and neither is the name of the man he [Gonzolez] said rented the car for him. perhaps they should check with the rental company...

Because that's the ONLY way to transport cash... and cash is only wrapped in Aluminum foil, and then placed in a large plastic bag, inside a cooler.

So not ALL MONEY contains residues of drugs...

So he lied... several times...




So Gonzolez has a friend he knows nothing about... right. guess Gonzolez has short term Amnesa since he also forgot about the cash he was carrying.

and added to the fact that he was warned about carrying large amounts of cash, why wasn't it then converted to a banker's check or something...

and here he admits to lying to the authorities. guess what.... people also RUN from the police because they are afraid of something minor.... and they end up arrested for something major!

the moral of the story.... Don't lie to any police officer. If you don't understand him, ask for a translator, but never lie to any police officer.

This makes too much sense...

Since when do people buy such expensive items with cash? Awfully suspicious. Still, no evidence is there to support criminal activity so the police just took an idiots money. No surprise I guess. Let it be a lesson to all of us of what could happen if we carry $100,000 in cash.

I do wonder what the guy and his associates do for a living to have such a large life savings...

I don't think they were trying to avoid taxes by paying cash. Cash is the simplest and easiest way to make purchases when two people don't speak a common language. Both people can read the numbers and count the cash themselves.

The language issue effects your second comment as well. Please say "May you please change a large amount of cash into a cashier's check or money odrer for me?" in spanish. If you find this difficult because you do not speak spanish fluently, you can imagine the man's position.
I can understand the man's position. but also understand the officer's position. this person lied several times.

and the FBI/IRS does investigate any large purchases done by cash transactions... even before 9/11. why? because cash isn't accounted for as easily as if it was say... in a finacial institution like a bank or credit union.

had he bought the truck with cash (and is a citizen of the US.) he and his friends would be under investigation.

A guy with no criminal record and no illegal substances in his rental car was pulled over, searched, and the police confiscated $124,700 of his money. The guy had a good explanation for carrying such a sum, but the courts have allowed the police to confiscate his money anyway.

What the fuck is going on in this country? Don't we have a right to property? I think in the interest of justice the families of the police and judges should be raped and tortured to death while the police and judges watch then the corrupt authority figures should be force-fed the corpses until their bellies are distended and near bursting. Then the guy who's money they took should be allowed to kick them in the gut until they burst.

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



I've been saying it for 3 years now, and I'm starting to be right, this nation is becoming a police state. Hopefully the people of the US have not lost their will to fight and will fight back against it and destroy it.

Since when do people buy such expensive items with cash? Awfully suspicious. Still, no evidence is there to support criminal activity so the police just took an idiots money. No surprise I guess. Let it be a lesson to all of us of what could happen if we carry $100,000 in cash.

I do wonder what the guy and his associates do for a living to have such a large life savings...

Maybe he's just greedy and loves to roll around in his money, why as a free American shouldn't he be allowed to carry his money like that? some people dont trust the banks or the government and they have perfectly good reason, and the freedom, not too.

and the "old Soviet Union"?

Buy something on credit now in Russia, then default on the loan.
Wait thirty days and watch as ex-spetnatz blow your door of its hinges with explosives or a chainsaw and sieze the chattel.

Just dont argue or get in the way. "The check is in the mail" doesnt float there.

Maybe he's just greedy and loves to roll around in his money, why as a free American shouldn't he be allowed to carry his money like that? some people dont trust the banks or the government and they have perfectly good reason, and the freedom, not too.

Considering that banks are fully insured if the money is stolen and that there is no such protection with cash I find that suspicious. Not to mention that having cash means tax evasion is easier.

Well, I guess now the US people don't have to worry about the terrorists taking away their freedoms.

Well, I guess now the US people don't have to worry about the terrorists taking away their freedoms.
Hey, they've got no reason to hate us anymore!

We don't know the full story, he could be a registered drug lord or something.
Actually we do know the whole story. He's got no criminal record.

A guy with no criminal record and no illegal substances in his rental car was pulled over, searched, and the police confiscated $124,700 of his money. The guy had a good explanation for carrying such a sum, but the courts have allowed the police to confiscate his money anyway.

What the fuck is going on in this country? Don't we have a right to property? I think in the interest of justice the families of the police and judges should be raped and tortured to death while the police and judges watch then the corrupt authority figures should be force-fed the corpses until their bellies are distended and near bursting. Then the guy who's money they took should be allowed to kick them in the gut until they burst.

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

We don't know the full story, he could be a registered drug lord or something.

Jolt's acting up again.........

Concerning the OP: in this specific case, I think that the guy doesn't have a lot going for him- his story doesn't check with the facts (e.g. the name on the rental doesn't match the name he provided)- but I still don't like the idea that carrying a large amount of cash means you're a crimminal. It's like saying that if I have big rims on my car I'm a rapper- it's not necessarily true.

Jolt's acting up again.........

Concerning the OP: in this specific case, I think that the guy doesn't have a lot going for him- his story doesn't check with the facts (e.g. the name on the rental doesn't match the name he provided)- but I still don't like the idea that carrying a large amount of cash means you're a crimminal. It's like saying that if I have big rims on my car I'm a rapper- it's not necessarily true.
For here in Hawaii, it means your car is modded... while it won't be pulled over, it will be watched for any street racing. ;)

For here in Hawaii, it means your car is modded... while it won't be pulled over, it will be watched for any street racing. ;)

No rappers in Hawaii? Sounds like the perfect place.

No rappers in Hawaii? Sounds like the perfect place.
it's nice... if you like Island music. ;)

it's nice... if you like Island music. ;)

I'll listen to anything...but just the fact that it's "Hawaii" is good enough for me. My next favourite place to California.

A bad court decision and possibly a dangerous precendent, but there is also another moral to this story. If you're going to do business in a given country, learn the language.

I love law enforcement bashing threads, they're funny:rolleyes:

I love law enforcement bashing threads, they're funny:rolleyes:

What do you mean funny? Funny how?

I love law enforcement bashing threads, they're funny:rolleyes:

More funny or less funny than citizen bashing laws?

What do you mean funny? Funny how?

funny in that they are stupid. Funny like that. I'm sure the cops had a valid reason for this.

funny in that they are stupid. Funny like that. I'm sure the cops had a valid reason for this.

They want more money?

EDIT:Oh, and the other thread on this, if anyone wants to steal the arguemnts there.
http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=497356

funny in that they are stupid. Funny like that. I'm sure the cops had a valid reason for this.

The details of the case are laid out on the site I linked to. No, they didnt have a valid reason. They simply assumed a man with a lot of cash had to be up to something illegal so they took his money. If you like that sort of treatment why don't you just stay in the PRC?

The details of the case are laid out on the site I linked to. No, they didnt have a valid reason. They simply assumed a man with a lot of cash had to be up to something illegal so they took his money.

maybe he was up to something illegal. Its not always healthy to question law enforcement you know.
edit: especially when the courts have decided its legal, I agree with their ruling.
If you like that sort of treatment why don't you just stay in the PRC?
I have to get my affairs in order, but fingers crossed I'll be back in a few months.

maybe he was up to something illegal. Its not always healthy to question law enforcement you know.
edit: especially when the courts have decided its legal, I agree with their ruling.

I have to get my affairs in order, but fingers crossed I'll be back in a few months.

Maybe you're up to something illegal, prepare for a body cavity search. Having lots of cash =/= committing a crime.

maybe he was up to something illegal. Its not always healthy to question law enforcement you know.
edit: especially when the courts have decided its legal, I agree with their ruling.

I have to get my affairs in order, but fingers crossed I'll be back in a few months.

Maybe everyone is up to something illegal. Why don't we just let the police search anyone anytime they want and confiscate anything they want for no good reason?

It's always healthy and necessary to question law enforcement. What the fuck do you think a criminal trial is? It's a system set up to question the evidence and the conclusions that law enfocement and prosecutors have come up with.

Fear is a big motivator to acceptance of oppression. Because Americans are being encouraged by the government to fear terrorism, drugs, homosexuals, non-Christians, etc we lose our fear of the government (the protector) and accept and eventually embrace oppression. If you don't think fascist oppression can happen here, think again. We're well on our way.

Fear is a big motivator to acceptance of oppression. Because Americans are being encouraged by the government to fear terrorism, drugs, homosexuals, non-Christians, etc we lose our fear of the government (the protector) and accept and eventually embrace oppression. If you don't think fascist oppression can happen here, think again. We're well on our way.

Yup. Been saying it for awhile now. People just need to open their eyes. But they wont, and let themselves be forced into submission. And by the time they realized whats happened, they'll be trapped.

Fear is a big motivator to acceptance of oppression. Because Americans are being encouraged by the government to fear terrorism, drugs, homosexuals, non-Christians, etc we lose our fear of the government (the protector) and accept and eventually embrace oppression. If you don't think fascist oppression can happen here, think again. We're well on our way.
yep, and that fear also inhibits people's ability to question the situation properly, automatically screaming "OPPRESSION!" instead of looking at the whole situation without emotion.

this may of already been said, but im too lazy to read the whole thread.

there are laws on how much cash an individual is allowed to carry on them, and there has been for years (even before the whole "9/11")

im not an expert and i dont know what the limit is and it may also varry from state to state, county to county, etc...

this may of already been said, but im too lazy to read the whole thread.

there are laws on how much cash an individual is allowed to carry on them, and there has been for years (even before the whole "9/11")

im not an expert and i dont know what the limit is and it may also varry from state to state, county to county, etc...

Source?

Source?

my source is the source of all sources.

it is such a massive force that a human will never be able to understand the sourcefullness of my source

seriously though, which part of "im not an expert" did you not understand. if you have sources to back up everything you say even if you dont know much about the subject then you really dont have much of a life at all.

Source?

Title 21 United States Code (USC) Controlled Substances Act (http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/21usc/881.htm)

Title 21 United States Code (USC) Controlled Substances Act (http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/21usc/881.htm)

umm, that only says that cash thought to have been gained from a violation of that act is subject to forfeiture. It doesn' t limit how much a person may carry with them or have in their possession.

The law being referred to in an earlier post only requires financial institutions to report cash transaction of over $10,000.

umm, that only says that cash thought to have been gained from a violation of that act is subject to forfeiture. It doesn' t limit how much a person may carry with them or have in their possession.

The law being referred to in an earlier post only requires financial institutions to report cash transaction of over $10,000.

I never stated that the Law said, only that he was told by his 'Friend' that it was bad (ok, I did say illegal instead of bad, I admit that was a mistake on my part) to carry large amounts of cash.

This is such a ripe case for selective prosecution...:eek:

What about the old woman who keeps her fortune in her safe because she didn't trust the banks after the last big bank bust?

This is such a ripe case for selective prosecution...:eek:

What about the old woman who keeps her fortune in her safe because she didn't trust the banks after the last big bank bust?

she's fine. but the problem is, the money in the bank is insured, so the customers will get their money back after a robbery... her safe isn't insured unless she goes and get's insurance. and even then, the money she get's back will be baised off of the value of the safe, not the money inside.