CIVIL FORFEITURE: After the Government Seized $11K From Him, He Fought Back. Now, He’s Getting His Money Back.

Upon arriving at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Clarke checked two bags and proceeded to the gate. There, the now 26-year-old was approached by law enforcement.

The agents had received a call from a ticketing agent with US Airways who told police Clarke’s luggage smelled like marijuana, according to an affidavit filed with the courts.

Police searched Clarke and his bag, and the student admitted to having cash in his pocket, according to an affidavit filed by William Conrad, a Cincinnati-based agent on the DEA task force.

After talking with Clarke, agents seized the $11,000, his cellphone, and iPad under civil asset forfeiture laws. The phone and iPad were eventually returned.

The officers alleged the money was “the proceeds of drug trafficking or was intended to be used in an illegal transaction,” according to court documents.

But Clarke said the money came from five years worth of savings from different jobs, financial aid, gifts from his family members, and benefits from his mother, who is a disabled veteran. He planned to use the money to pay for living and school expenses upon returning to Florida.

When the officers attempted to take Clarke’s money, Conrad alleged the young man grabbed a second officer’s wrist.

He was subsequently arrested and charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. The charges were ultimately dropped.

The Institute for Justice took Clarke’s case and ultimately succeeded in getting him his money back, but the story doesn’t reveal how many thousands — ten of thousands? more? — IJ had to spend to win.

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