A Nevada judge has ruled that state police cannot use a federal loophole to seize someone’s property, as the Highway Patrol did when officers seized Marine Corps Veteran Life Savings.
“The fight is not over,” said prosecutor Stephen Lara Fox News Digital. “You have a lot of other people out there who continue to go through this unfortunate civil asset forfeiture process. Stories that we don’t even hear about in other states.”
Lara’s story began in February 2021 when he was driving from Texas to California to visit his daughters. He had about an hour left in his journey when a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper pulled him over, accusing Lara of following the semi truck too closely and driving under the speed limit, body camera video shows.
The officer asked Lara to get out of his car and casually asked him about his shirt, his daughters and, finally, whether he had “a large amount of US currency in the vehicle,” the video shows.
Lara said he was traveling with cash.
Cops seized $87,000 from Marine veteran Stephen Lara in February 2021. The DEA returned his money after the Institute of Justice got involved, but Lara said he won’t stop until all Americans are safe from civil asset forfeiture abuse. (Courtesy of the Institute for Justice)
“I don’t trust banks, so I keep my money,” he said. He let the officers search his car, where they found $87,000 in a plastic bag, along with bank accounts and payments.
Officers had the dog sniff the money and told Lara that the dog “alerted” to the money, suggesting it was drug-related. They seized his money and turned it over to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) using civil asset forfeiture, which allows the government to seize and keep property it says is connected to criminal activity, even if the police make no arrests.
Lara was never charged with a crime.
DEA praises forfeiture as a means of “attacking the financial structure of drug-trafficking and money-laundering groups around the world, from the lowly courier carrying cash or drugs to the highest levels of drug cartels.”
Nevada is one of the many states with limitations on civil forfeiturerequiring clear and convincing evidence that property is connected to a crime in order for it to be forfeited to the government.
But a program called “equitable sharing” allows state and local police to partner with federal agencies to seize assets and circumvent restrictions. After federal officials seize property, they can return up to 80% of the proceeds to the state agency.
“To be incentivized so that department or that agency can get assets or more revenue, to me, that’s dirty,” Lara said. “It’s absolutely disgusting.”
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS: HOW A MARINE MOM FINDS HERSELF FALSELY IMPRISONED FOR THE HOLIDAYS
A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper flips through a bill found in Stephen Lara’s cash bag. (Courtesy of the Institute for Justice)
With the help of the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit civil liberties law firm, Lara eventually got his money back, but continued to sue for damages and to stop the police from taking other people’s cash.
Nevada’s Second Judicial District Judge, Connie J. Steinheimer, ruled last week that the state legislature “did not expressly allow NHP to use the federal forfeiture process — which has less rigorous standards.”
“NHP cannot undermine this fundamental policy and effectively circumvent Nevada’s civil asset forfeiture laws by choosing to participate in the federal equitable distribution program,” Steinheimer wrote.
An NHP spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. The Institute for Justice expects the state to withdraw that verdict.
Lara said he believes there will be no real change “until qualified immunity is gone.” It is a doctrine that often shields police and other government agencies from lawsuits for human rights violations.
– Taxpayers pay for these lawsuits – said Lara. “There is no accountability. And until those officers and those departments are directly punished … there will be no incentive to stop it.”
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS: HOW A MARINE MOM FINDS HERSELF FALSELY IMPRISONED FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Stephen Lara left the Marine Corps in 2016 after 16 years of service, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. (Courtesy of the Institute for Justice)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
And while Lara emphasized that his veteran status doesn’t make him any more important than others whose money has been seized, his service has given him a unique perspective on the matter.
“This is personal for me,” he said. “It does something to you when you have a state that’s paying you a pension check for service that you’ve put in, and that same state is colluding with these local police departments to try to take that very money that they’re paying you for your pension.”
Teny Sahakian contributed to this report.
