Louisiana man who had life savings seized by DEA agents without being charged with a crime, wins legal battle to get the money returned
Kermit Warren, a New Orleans man, brought nearly $30,000 cash with him in his carry-on luggage on a flight to Columbus, Ohio last November, intending to buy a tow truck there. The money represented his life savings, and as he had lost his shoe-shine job due to the pandemic, he wanted the truck to supplement a new living collecting and selling scrap. The sale of the truck was not completed, however; and on his way through the airport to catch his return flight, he was stopped by DEA agents who seized the money when he panicked and gave unsatisfying answers to their questions about it, including one false offhand remark about having been a former police officer. Warren was never charged with anything at any point - or even arrested - he was allowed to continue on his flight; but the money was summarily confiscated. It has taken him and his lawyer all year to prove his
innocence to a point that satisfied the government enough to order the return of the money.
Law enforcement at all levels of government are empowered to seize money and property found during "investigations" that never lead to charges, under the argument that even if an actual crime is never found and nobody is ever charged with anything, there are certain amounts of cash money and/or certain ways of carrying it that law enforcement officers "just know" can only reasonably be explained by drug criminality and any other reasoning given by someone in possession of such an amount is inherently absurd and dishonest (an argument that has been made unironically by some in this very forum, it must be said); and thus, the money can be unilaterally declared criminal proceeds without any known crime attached to it and seized by law enforcement authorities.
Since the money is at once "criminal" in nature but not technically "evidence" in any case, the agency that seizes the money is not required to keep it, but (with some superficial restrictions that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction) is generally free to spend that money however they wish.