Their story sounded flimsy.
Police near Cloverdale pulled over two men from Frisco, Texas with $35,000 in the trunk of their Dodge Charger. They told officers they were headed north to Seattle to do a bit of gambling.
But all signs pointed to another, more familiar tale, one that plays out frequently on the road to the West Coast's most prolific marijuana-growing region.
In addition to a Crown Royal bag stuffed with cash, police found five cellphones, seven air fresheners and a GPS device fixed on a Humboldt County motel frequented by drug dealers.
It seemed clear to officers the men were planning to buy a load of the stinky green bud that sells for big bucks in other parts of the country, Sonoma County prosecutor Bud McMahon said.
"They were intending to commit a criminal act," McMahon said.
So police arrested them and took their money. Trafficking charges were never filed, but authorities kept most of the cash under civil asset forfeiture laws that allow government confiscation, even without a criminal conviction.
Over the past five years, the scene has repeated itself countless times as county agencies scooped up nearly $8 million, most of it in cash, from people suspected of a range of unlawful activity, including marijuana trafficking on Highway 101.
"There's a lot of money coming through Sonoma County," McMahon said. "A lot of dope money."
Bundles of cash are found in cars going north on the freeway to the famed pot-growing region known as the Emerald Triangle – Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties.
Other cash is seized in searches of homes, businesses and bank accounts — not always linked to drugs — along with allegedly ill-gotten valuables such as luxury cars and sport motorcycles that are later sold at auction. Last year police seized five cars from a Santa Rosa man including a custom Chevy pickup valued at $102,000.
Sixty-five percent of all assets are handed over to the seizing agency, which must spend a portion of the money on drug and gang prevention programs. The District Attorney's Office collects 10 percent, the state gets 24 percent and the statewide prosecutors' association gets 1 percent, McMahon said.
So far this fiscal year, local agencies have taken $1.5 million. The district attorney's share is $120,000.
"For the past few years it's been paying salaries so we didn't have to lay people off," McMahon said.
But the windfall for law enforcement brings considerable controversy.
Critics say asset forfeiture creates a financial incentive for the government to take private property with little or no evidence that a crime has occurred.
The ACLU said it's led to "policing for profit," in which the focus becomes filling budget coffers instead of seeking justice, and racial profiling as officers target those they believe are most likely to be breaking the law.
Santa Rosa attorney Joe Rogoway said many clients are unable to get their money back even after charges are dropped. Those who try are charged with stiffer crimes, while those who give up the cash have their cases reduced or dismissed, he said.
He called it a subtle form of extortion.
"They get to keep the lion's share," Rogoway said. "So essentially, it's a mechanism to transfer money from the medical cannabis world to law enforcement."
Others said police incorrectly assume anyone with cash is involved in the marijuana trade. They take money earned by legitimate means, requiring defendants to pay costly attorney fees to get it back.
In one recent case, a restaurant worker had $100 in tips seized when he was arrested with a small amount of marijuana, Rogoway said.
"We're getting to a place where if you have a lot of cash, that's probable cause that you're in the marijuana business," Santa Rosa attorney Steve Gallenson said. "It's disgusting."
Among those to fall under suspicion was William Bush, 31, of Sebastopol, who was pulled over for a traffic violation on Bennett Valley Road in 2012 and found to be carrying about $47,000 in cash.
Police said it was evidence that he was dealing marijuana, but Bush claimed it was the proceeds from legitimate enterprise, including a Mexico-based ATM machine business he operated.
The case went to trial and jurors sided with prosecutors after hearing testimony of a strong marijuana odor coming from Bush's 2007 Mercedes-Benz and reviewing evidence such as a ledger sheet that appeared to show drug sales.
In addition to losing his money, Bush was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay a nearly $100,000 fine. His car was returned after he was released from jail earlier this year.
"They basically slammed my whole life," Bush said. "It was totally wrong."
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