[Tancred]

Associates of Gonzolez testified in court that they had pooled their life savings to purchase a refrigerated truck to start a produce business.

Be that as it may, I find it hard to believe that they are telling the truth. How can they expect to run a business without first starting with a bank account, a cashier's check, anything but over $100 grand in a cooler? Who the heck buys a commercial truck with cash in the first place? We can all understand a few thousand in cash for a used car, but who makes deals like this in cash? Who would accept that kind of money in exchange for a truck anyway?

I think there is more going on here than is presented in this article.

[eastforker]

Look at a bill, THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, nuff said!!

[ExSES]

I think there is more going on here than is presented in this article.

If the "Victim" was named John Smith..., the media would have no reason to print the story!

[PhiKapMom]

I think there is a lot more going on here as well. You don't make a cash transaction to buy a truck with that amount of money. Why not put it in a bank and get a cashier's check?

This smells.

[Marius3188]

Alot of the farmers I know still make large purchases with cash. It would not surprise me for someone to buy a tractor or such with cash.

BTW, it seems to me that the Gov't is conditioning people like yourself and many others to avoid using cash. It is our legal tender and there shouldn't be anything illegal or wrong with having lots of it.

[Between the Lines]

I think there is more going on here than is presented in this article.

What we think or feel is unimportant. Proof is what is needed.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

I think there is more going on here than is presented in this article.

Can you say: "illegal immigration" ???

[diogenes ghost]

"Who buys a commercial truck for cash?" My son, for one. He & a friend took 25G out of the bank & were heading down the interstate to buy a used truck. Cop pulled 'em over & first words out of his mouth were "where's the money, fellas?" Luckily, they had scads of truck ads, both had CDLs, & he let 'em go. But he could have kept the money, woulda cost them way more than 25g in attorney fees to get it back.

[dalereed]

A lot of people demand cash.

When I bought my airplane 25 years ago they demanded cash for the balance that I owed

I took $68k out of my bank account and took it with me to pay that balance.

It was a company in Phoenix and not a private party.

At that time that was a lot more than what this guy had considerig inflation.

[Richard-SIA]

"Think" is not PROOF!

I "think" the guy and his partners may have been illegals, operating, or intending to operate, an unlicensed business.
I "think" that would explain their doing business in cash.
What I "think" is also not proof of any criminal activity.

I Feel that if he were proven to be an illegal the cash should be confiscated upon his conviction, as it would then have a connection to proven illegal activity.

Taking anyone's cash without proving a crime is mere theft, just because cops and courts are the ones stealing does not excuse it.

[e_castillo]

It happens all the time along the border. I know of several people who have had cash confiscated at the border for no reason other than having too much at one time on their person.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

20 years ago when I sold Real Estate a guy from out of state paid $85,000 cash in $5-10-20's for a piece of land.

The bank depostited his money just like it was anyone elses.

[TKDietz]

This guy may very well have been carrying drug money. The government did not prove that though. The higher court apparently ruled that having a large sum of money in your vehicle is proof enough of drug activity. That's bad, because that will expand forfeitures even more and a lot of people who weren't guilty of a thing will have their money seized. Sure, it's stupid to carry a lot of cash, but should we punish people who have done nothing wrong other than not use particularly good sense? These forfeitures are getting out of hand. In my county law enforcement seizes at least several hundred thousand dollars a year. Most are not large seizures. Often it's less than a hundred dollars, or just a few hundred, or maybe even a grand or two. They pretty much any money they find and then file forfeiture suits and serve the "victims" complaints that they must respond to in twenty days. Often these people have no idea how to respond to a lawsuit so when they twenty days have passed and no Answer is filed, the prosecutors just send the judge a default judgment to sign and they get to keep the money. Then they spend it on important things like "company cars" for all prosecutors, some of their staff, several in law enforcement, the wife of a cop who they claim is in law enforcement because she is a probation officer, etc. All of our prosecutors have their cell phones they use for personal purposes as well as work paid for, their memberships to the gym are covered, cable TV in all of their plush offices, fancy all expense paid continuing legal education trips, some furniture they purchased to "loan" to the judge for his plush personal break room (this one ticks me off worse than the others), and on and on.

[samm1148]

You know,I've jumped on behaviors that the police and courts have done. But I agree with you here. This seems pretty high-handed; especially for the state to appeal the first decision. Someone must have thought something was wrong. I'd like to hear more before I'd say yea or nay.

[nimbuscloud]

Be that as it may, I find it hard to believe that they are telling the truth. How can they expect to run a business "without first starting with a bank account, a cashier's check, anything but over $100 grand in a cooler? Who the heck buys a commercial truck with cash in the first place? We can all understand a few thousand in cash for a used car, but who makes deals like this in cash? Who would accept that kind of money in exchange for a truck anyway?

I think there is more going on here than is presented in this article"

Why does it matter "who would buy a truck with cash"? Your feelings or anyone's feelings that he should not have that much $ on him is not relevant. What is relevant is that his property was confiscated without a real cause or evidence of crime.