A Mississippi trucker is reportedly fighting to get his life savings back after police seized it during a traffic stop.
In September of 2020, Rae Young Chung was in his truck delivering auto parts to a business in Georgia when he was pulled over by a narcotics officer.
According to court documents, Chung was pulled over for following other vehicles too closely and for traveling 74 miles per hour (mph) in a 70 mph zone.
Chung, a South Korean native, was 70 years old at the time with limited English, and body cam footage showed a clear language barrier between him and the officer. But the officer continued interrogating Chung using Google Translate rather than bringing in an interpreter.
After consenting to the search, Chung told the officer he was carrying cash, and retrieved the bag from the truck containing 45 envelopes each with $5,000 inside, totaling $225,000. Chung said that each time he saves $5,000, he puts it in an envelope and keeps it in the bag.
The officer also allegedly found “discrepancies” in his logbooks, and began to suspect Chung of being a drug trafficker.
Said the officer,
“Based off all the other factors with the logbooks, the inconsistencies in it, him admitting that he had money inside of the vehicle, now everything started looking more like he was a drug money courier at that point in time.”
Chung also told Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that the money was his life savings that he had accumulated since 2010, and kept it in his truck because he lived in his truck, and didn’t have a home where he could keep it.
After managing to find a loose link between Chung’s trucking company and another ongoing investigation, the State petitioned for forfeiture on September 28, 2020.
Now, four years later, The Court of Appeals of the State of Mississippi have reversed the forfeiture, admitting that there was not sufficient reason to seize Chung’s money, and that the 70-year-old gave good explanations for why he was carrying the cash.
“Chung gave plausible explanations for these suspicions, and the State presented insufficient evidence to actually demonstrate a connection between Chung and drug activity.
The State failed to meet its burden of proof, and the circuit court erred in forfeiting the funds to the Brandon Police Department. Therefore, we reverse and render the circuit court’s judgment and order the funds returned to Chung.”
Chung will still be hit by lawyers fees, so his attorney is currently working on a contingency plan for the recovery of the funds, according to Forbes.
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