[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I just wanted to tell you, Officer Brown, I mean,
you're taking money out of my kids' mouths right now.
I'm sorry.
You're taking food out of my kids' mouths.
Like I said, we believe right now
that this is drug proceeds, illicit currency.
Well, I'm going to prove to you that it's not.
Perfect.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SIREN BLARING]
[RADIO CHATTER]
That clip shows a retired US marine
being robbed of his life savings on the side of a highway.
He was not arrested for, charged with, or convicted of any crime.
He wasn't even ticketed.
This is a rare glimpse into an abuse of power
that thousands of innocent Americans experience each year.
Through a public records request,
The Institute for Justice was able to acquire body and dashcam
footage of an entire roadside seizure,
from the initial traffic stop to the seized money being deposited
at the bank.
This is the most complete footage we have ever seen.
On February 19, 2021, our client Stephen Lara
was pulled over outside of Reno by the Nevada Highway Patrol.
He was driving to visit his daughters in a small California
town just West of Reno.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
The driver of this vehicle was following the red and blue
semi-truck too closely, less than a second following
distance.
Also driving under the speed limit, which I thought
was really odd.
And I'm going to stop him up here.
[INAUDIBLE] a little bit safer [INAUDIBLE].
Make sure everything's OK.
Yeah, initially, I thought I was getting
pulled over because maybe I had expired tags.
I had a rental car.
Unfortunately, I had some car trouble.
And that was necessary to get a rental car for a short duration
for that weekend.
I'm doing great.
Hey, the reason I'm stopping you,
we have a special enforcement campaign going on.
We're trying to educate drivers about violations they may not
realize they're committing but we're
seeing a big increase in crashes out here.
First, applaud you on your driving.
You drive great.
You're driving really slow.
It appears that you're trying to drive safely
under the speed limit.
I appreciate that.
I just want to talk to about your following distance,
especially around commercial vehicles.
The Highway Patrol Officer seems friendly and reasonable
at first, even complimenting Stephen's driving.
He orders Stephen to exit his vehicle
and starts asking him a series of questions unrelated to why
he was pulled over.
Police often ask questions like this
to see if a suspect's story lines up.
You a fighter?
Am I a fighter?
Yeah, you've got a Tapout shirt on.
[CHUCKLES] Well, I've got a lot of training.
I'm a retired Marine.
What do your daughters do, man?
Ever been in trouble law enforcement before?
When did you leave?
What part of Texas are you thinking of buying a house in?
What were you doing for work up there?
The officer then explains the real reason
he pulled Stephen over.
Hey, while I'm working on this, let me ask you something, man.
This is going to sound kind of weird.
Part of my job out here is I do what's
called Highway Interdiction.
I look for people that are smuggling contraband
through our state, across the country, weapons, humans, drugs,
illicit currency, things like that.
Anything in the vehicle I should be aware of?
Nothing.
OK.
No firearms?
Nothing.
No explosives?
None.
OK.
Are there any drugs in the vehicle?
No.
Cocaine?
I don't do drugs.
Yeah, I've got to ask all these silly questions, right?
There's no drugs.
There's no weapons in the vehicle.
OK.
Any large amounts of United States currency in the vehicle?
Yes.
OK.
What's a large amount of US currency to you?
Anything over $10,000.
OK.
So there's over $10,000 in there?
Yes.
How much money have you got in there?
A whole lot.
[LAUGHS] OK.
I don't trust banks so I keep my own money.
Fair enough.
Would you give me permission to search your vehicle today?
Yeah.
If that's OK with you?
Sure.
OK, perfect.
Although it's Stephen's right to refuse,
he gives the officer permission to search his car.
I didn't want to come across as being
non-cooperative or combative.
So I did what I felt was right.
And I was very honest, very forthcoming.
I was also very respectful.
And I just wanted to make their job as easy as possible
so that I could be on my way to spend time with my children.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Hey, Shane, how are you?
Good.
Hey, can you head out to a traffic stop
or are you busy on that other stuff going on today?
So far, I'm still searching a car, but a big bundle of money.
He says, probably, at least $100,000.
That interaction shows what's at the heart of the officer's
interest in Stephen.
He knows that even though Stephen did nothing wrong,
the DEA will adopt the seizure of his cash
and return a portion of the money
to the Highway Patrol for the favor of giving them the case.
Here's how an adoption works.
When state or local police seize cash, cars, or other property,
federal law enforcement takes over the forfeiture.
The federal agency does all the work
and kicks back up to 80% of the proceeds to the state agency
that seized the property.
In Stephen's case, that would mean
the DEA would take control of the cash
and seek to forfeit it through federal law,
ignoring the important limitations
that Nevada law places on seizures and forfeitures.
In 2019 alone, federal agencies made $334 million
in equitable sharing payments to state and local law enforcement
agencies.
In this case, the Nevada Highway Patrol stands to gain nearly
$70,000 by taking Steven's money.
I think you're a good guy, and I don't--
I am a good guy.
Yeah.
[CHUCKLES] So how much cash is that?
About $100,000.
$100,000.
So as you know, I'm a vet.
He's a vet.
You're a vet.
It's not illegal to carry currency, have currency.
[INAUDIBLE] It does, though, make us ask some questions
on why someone has $100,000.
I can understand why you don't trust banks, especially
in this day and age right now.
Stephen keeps his savings in cash.
Maybe that's uncommon.
But as the officer acknowledges, it's not illegal.
I have nothing to hide from you.
I appreciate that.
Give me a few seconds.
I'll make a couple phone calls.
The officer first calls his superior.
He interrupts that call to speak again with the DEA agent.
Hey, Sarge, are you on your way out here?
Oh.
OK.
I'm waiting to hear back from Shane
to see if he comes out here.
This is a strange one, but not a strange one.
Consented to a search.
Said there was money up there.
We located what he says is $100,000.
It's in a Ziploc sandwich baggie.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I haven't gone into it a bunch.
I'm waiting to hear back but there's a bunch of bank receipts
and stuff in there as well to show the [INAUDIBLE]--
this might be Shane.
Hold on one second.
Hey, this is Shane.
Let me call you back.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Around 20 minutes later, the officer's superior,
a Highway Patrol Sergeant, is recorded on his bodycam chatting
with the same DEA agent who apologizes
for not being able to make it.
No issues.
It's too easy to do an adoption.
We contacted you so I think everything's going to be OK.
And I'll text you the money count after we get it.
It'll probably be a couple hours.
Remember, there's still no probable cause
to seize Stephen's money.
All the officers have is a large amount of cash.
And cash is not a crime.
But the Sergeant isn't giving up.
So why the distrust for the banking system?
I just don't trust them.
Yeah?
It's my reasoning.
It's my personal thing.
Oh, I'm not trying to convince you one or the other.
It's not usual.
After questioning Stephen, the Sergeant
speaks privately with the officer who pulled him over.
What are your thoughts, Chris?
I-- kind of leaning more towards it's odd but--
It's odd but it's not packaged like normal.
No.
And he's answering the questions.
There's receipts here.
I would like to put--
I would like to put the dog on the currency, man.
OK.
The two officers agree that Stephen has been forthcoming
and has years worth of bank receipts showing
that he has withdrawn his savings from his bank accounts.
But the Sergeant orders the junior officer
to put the dog on the currency.
The Sergeant put Stephen's money in an open Ziploc bag
and throws the open package to the ground
on the side of the road less than 40 yards from Stephen's
car.
Nice.
Positive alert.
We'll go forward with it.
Huh?
We'll go forward with it.
OK.
This positive alert appears to have
given the Sergeant what he thinks he needs
to take Stephen's life savings.
Remember, both officers have planned all along
to hand the money to the DEA.
They are looking for a legal justification.
But numerous studies have shown anywhere between 67% and 100%
of US currency has trace amounts of drugs.
For that reason, a dog alert to currency on its own
does not show the currency was used in an illegal drug
transaction.
What we're going to do, I believe they're drug proceeds.
Dog alerted to it.
Drug proceeds?
Yeah, it's very common, sir.
We get people that are trafficking large quantities
of marijuana from Northern California to all states East,
even from Reno.
Sir, I can tell you right now, there's--
I'm going to tell you exactly what's going to happen, OK?
We're going to seize it today.
But that doesn't mean we're the final judgment on it.
It's going to go through the DEA.
So the DEA will contact you.
And the DEA will provide you with the means to fight it.
You're going to have to provide your pay stubs.
You're going to have to provide your other receipts
and stuff like that.
OK?
Stephen now has nothing.
He had to convince his brother to wire him $1,000 to continue
his trip to see his daughters.
I just want to let you know, I know you're just doing your job.
That money, I work pretty hard for.
The money that I have in my jacket is only a few dollars.
I have no money to pay for my kids' meals,
[INAUDIBLE] my hotel, or even get that car back to Texas.
So I know you're just doing your job,
but I don't know what to do [INAUDIBLE].
So I'm probably going to be stuck here unless somebody
sends me some money.
I have no way of providing for my children and stuff,
or getting back to Texas.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
After nearly an hour and a half on the side of a highway,
Stephen was given a receipt for US
currency with a number to call the DEA agent.
This is all I get here?
That's what you get.
Yes, sir.
You're going to get noticed in the mail
as well at that address, OK?
I find it even more so concerning
that if this could happen to me as a combat veteran who
served overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan,
this could happen to anybody.
After six months without his nearly $87,000,
Stephen sued the DEA in federal court to get it back.
Only then, after The Institute for Justice
filed a lawsuit on his behalf, and The Washington Post called
the agency for comment did they agree to return Stephen's cash.
Stephen may have gotten back his money but his case goes on.
Stephen and The Institute for Justice
are also suing the Nevada Highway Patrol in state court
to make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else.
Stephen's situation isn't unique but he is one of the lucky ones.
He will get his money back.
Most victims of forfeiture don't have a public interest law firm
like IJ to take their case.
And if they cannot afford an attorney and cannot figure out
how to navigate convoluted forfeiture processes
on their own, the government walks away with their property
without ever having to prove any crime.
This highway robbery must end.
It is time to abolish civil forfeiture.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]