Law against carrying so much money?

[vvblazers777 10+ year member]

What is the law or is there a law on carrying so much cash on you? I just have a checking account, and after 5 weeks of waiting for Extracco my card still hasn't came in. So in other words I had to carry cash. I was heading to Austin to pick up a rear suspension setup for a car were building, and had about 1800.00 and some change on me, and just happen to get pulled over for speeding. I got my lisence and everything out ahead of time. If the officer would have seen the cash could he have got me for anything? I know he would probally ask to search my vehicle, but could he have got me for anything else?

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[joelowrider 10+ year member]

some places they can make you prove where you got the money like a check stub but it might only be the case if you have drugs on you

 

[the dude 10+ year member]

It takes alot more than $1800.00. Im not positive but ive heard more like $5,000.00 and thats if there actually is a law. It would be stupid to have one but it wouldnt suprise me.

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

I dont believe there are any laws against it but it can give the cops probable cause to search you. Also be careful if you cant prove where the money came from if asked they can and will take it from you until you can prove it.

 

[SkatinBassPLaya]

no its not probable cause.....

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

no its not probable cause.....

Tell that to my buddy who got searched for it and had his money confisgated at the airport. And he had nothing illegal on him.

You may want to research probable cause

http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/p089.htm

Purely open to the disrection of the officer within reason.

 

[jrouter76 10+ year member]

What is the law or is there a law on carrying so much cash on you? I just have a checking account, and after 5 weeks of waiting for Extracco my card still hasn't came in. So in other words I had to carry cash. I was heading to Austin to pick up a rear suspension setup for a car were building, and had about 1800.00 and some change on me, and just happen to get pulled over for speeding. I got my lisence and everything out ahead of time. If the officer would have seen the cash could he have got me for anything? I know he would probally ask to search my vehicle, but could he have got me for anything else?

I believe unless the law has changed its 10,000 dollars, anything above that you will have to give an account for unless you happen to be a businessman or filthy rich.

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

having it at the airport is different. there isnt any laws that i know of that says you cant carry a certain amt of cash, there are laws about transporting certain amts of cash though.

and i think even bank transactions that are over like 10k get investigated.

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

I think it's $4K

I saw it on a recent episode of COPS. lol

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

iirc it's 10K and a federal law.

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

it was enacted to fight the war on drugs so you know its a good law.

 

[2002XLT 5,000+ posts]

it only matters if you cant prove where you got it, ie a legit job. It has to do with taxes.

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

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.

A 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.

Source: US v. $124,700 (US Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 8/19/2006)

this guy was pwned. Hard.

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

That is exactly what happened to my friend. Never did get his money back either.

 

[big_mofo 10+ year member]

thats ****ed up