$124,700: The Cost of Emiliano Gonzolez’ American Dream

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that if you are in a vehicle, and carrying a large amount of money with you, you’re automatically subject to criminal investigation and confiscation of the money.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ As if this weren’t absurd enough, if you’re found innocent, the government can continue to appeal and you may never have the money returned to you.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Oh, and by the way-you don’t have to be found with any other evidence of a crime to have your money confiscated.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ This is but another shocking example of how the war on drugs, along with the war on terror, has ruined countless innocent lives.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Let’s take an indepth look into the controversial case surrounding this federal appellate court ruling.

The case is titled, “United States of America vs. $124,700 in U.S. Currency,” and was argued in the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ It seems rather odd to have a case where the title has the government versus an amount of money.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The reason for that is because United States of America vs. $124,700 in U.S. Currency is aÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½civil, rather than criminal case.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The difference between civil and criminal cases is that in criminal trials you need to be proved guilty ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ With a civil trial you are ruled against (not found guilty) with a preponderance of the evidence.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ In these cases there is no innocent until proven guilty under civil law; whoever has the most evidence is victorious.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ $124,700 is the amount of money that was confiscated by a Nebraska state trooper in May, 2003, from EmilianoÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Gonzolez.

Emiliano Gonzolez was pulled over in his rented car on Interstate 80 in Nebraska on May 28, 2003.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ While writing out a speeding ticket for Mr. Gonzolez, the state trooper realized the name on the rental contract for the car was not EmilianoÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Gonzolez.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The state trooper then proceeded to question Mr. Gonzolez, who cooperated, but in broken English.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ One can safely assume that Emiliano Gonzolez most likely understood very little about his rights when the trooper began searching his car.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Inside the car, contained in a cooler, was $124,700 in cash, which was immediately seized by the trooper when his drug sniffing dog barked at it.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ These few sketchy components were sufficient evidence in the eyes of the police that a drug crime occurred-thus allowing them to keep Emiliano Gonzolez’ $124,700 for a good long while.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Keep in mind it no longer means anything at all when terms like “innocent until proven guilty” are thrown around.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Most of us might as well stop even pretending we believe in that idea when we’ve voted in a government that values suspicion of its citizens over almost everything else, including the hard fought civil rights of those citizens.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ No drugs, or drug paraphernalia were found in Emiliano Gonzolez’ vehicle, or on his person.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Yet because he had a rather large amount of cash, and a dog barked, the government was allowed to investigate it as a drug crime.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ It obviously didn’t occur to the state trooper that a rented vehicle that has been driven by a large number of people could falsely alert his dog.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ If you think this can’t happen to you, think again.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ If youÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½pick upÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½a decent sum of cash to buy a new car, you’d better hope you don’t get pulled over in the old one before you get to the dealership.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Keep in mind that if you go to your bank and withdraw more than $10,000 in cash, the FBI automatically investigates you.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ If they find cause to think you withdrew the cash because of drugs, they can confiscate anyÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½assets.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ If that happens, it’s your responsibility to prove that you’re not involved in the drug trade, and attempt to convince authorities to give you your possessions and cash back, instead of them having the burden of proof.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½

In court, it was revealed and proven that Emiliano Gonzolez in fact had innocent reasons for havingÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½$124,700 in his vehicle.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ According to testimony that was corroborated many times over, Gonzolez, his friends and family, had gathered up their entire life savings to purchase a special truck to help them start a production and delivery business.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ That’s right,Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Emiliano Gonzolez and his loved ones were trying to follow the American Dream.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Yet like so many others today, they’ve been subjected to alienation of their civil rights.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½

Emiliano�¯�¿�½Gonzolez is by all accounts�¯�¿�½a good man, who did everything he could to follow the rules, and work hard to make it in this country.�¯�¿�½ When he had the money to pay for the truck he needed, he bought a one-way ticket to go pick it up in Chicago.�¯�¿�½ When he arrived there to purchase it, it had already been sold.�¯�¿�½ With nothing but cash, he�¯�¿�½was unable to�¯�¿�½rent a truck or car, so he had someone else rent it for him.�¯�¿�½ Mr. Gonzolez decided to put his cash in the cooler because he was afraid of it being stolen, and was justifiably terrified when the trooper pulled him over and found the money.

No contradictory evidence was found or revealed in United States of America vs. $124,700 in U.S. Currency.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ All of Emiliano Gonzolez’ testimony was corroborated or consistent with the events of the day in question and the story surrounding it. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Mr. Gonzolez was found to be a man with no criminal history, with no charges at all on his record.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Yet the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals completely dismissed all corroborated testimony.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Even though a lower court had earlier ruled that there was absolutely nothing in the case to suggest drug activity occurred, the Eighth Circuit overturned that ruling claiming that a large sum of money was, “strong enough evidence of a drug crime.”Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Only one judge on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals dissented, Judge Donald Lay; only one person appalled enough to fight for the rights of Emiliano Gonzolez, and it wasn’t enough.

Emiliano Gonzolez was cleared of any drug charges in a criminal case, the reason his money was seized in the first place, ironically, under civil law (thanks to the War on Drugs legislation).Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Under criminal law, there is no double jeopardy.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ If you are charged with a crime and found not guilty, you can’t be charged again.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ This is a constitutionally protected right for all Americans. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Yet under civil law, either side can keep appealing until the verdict goes their way.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ This is why in civil court cases there can be large awards that don’t get paid for years, sometimes decades, because one side continues to appeal until they run out of courts. The government, in a civil case where money has been seized, can be ruled against in one court and appeal, possibly getting to keep the money (or car, house, boat, etc…) where they believe the drugs were or anything they think came from the trade of drugs.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ In effect, the government did not have enough evidence to convict Emiliano Gonzolez of a crime, but they had enough (“enough” referring to the cash, and only the cash)Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½to take his life savings, and keep it under civil law.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Our government still hasÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Emiliano Gonzolez’ life savings and that of his family and friends-$124,700 .Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½

What is the lesson we can learn from United States of America vs. $124,700 in U.S. Currency, and from the story of Emiliano Gonzolez?�¯�¿�½ I suppose we could glean that the government wants us to keep our money in the bank where it belongs, so they can keep better track of it.�¯�¿�½ But is there a larger lesson in the story of Emiliano Gonzolez?

What does this case in particular say about the direction our country is moving in? Certainly many of us can say we are outraged, but we know we won’t make noise about it, or work to change it.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ United States of America vs. $124,700 in U.S. Currency is one example of how the fabric of our nation now unravels daily, yet slowly enough that many of us do not notice.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Cases like that of EmilianoÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Gonzolez go underestimated or unnoticed by millions of people, thinking there will be no ripple effect; millions of people who now consider that which does not happen to us personally and individually, to be harmless.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ And why not?Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ We’ve had the example set for us by our leaders.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Emiliano Gonzolez was alone in this betrayal by his chosen country, and no one particularly cared.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½

Quiet, deadly racism is purposely overlooked, religious prejudice condoned, and civil rights stripped away, and weÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½blame it on our government, but we can’t find it within ourselves to place the blame where it ultimately rests-squarely on the shoulders of every American who watches our beloved country become less of what it was meant to be every day, while we do nothing to stop it.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Is it so late in the game that a national conscience has become impossible?Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Have we convinced ourselves that if something like United States of America vs. $124,700 in U.S. Currency has already occurred, there’s nothing we can do about it?Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ There is no answer to that question, except the one we already know lies in each of us.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Dissent has become treason, accountability has become extinct.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ In another generation, when our children look back and ask themselves where things went wrong, will we hang our heads in shame because of what we allowed?Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½