![handle is hein.crs/goveiwy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: \Congressional ______
R' fesearch Service
Is Possession of Cash Evidence of a Crime?
September 23, 2022
Although possession of a large sum of cash may suggest criminal activity, police discovery of a
substantial amount of currency is not enough alone to justify the government's confiscation of the money.
Thus, on August 10, 2022, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Fourth
Circuit) overturned a district court order of summary judgment regarding the confiscation of cash
discovered at the scene of a car crash. [T]he [g]overnment argue[d] that lawful citizens do not carry
around large amounts of cash and consequently that the cash was forfeitable as the proceeds of drug
trafficking. Yet, when the government comes upon cash and seeks to confiscate it, the government bears
the burden of proving that the cash is forfeitable by virtue of its connection to some forfeiture-triggering
crime. In United States v. McClellan, the Fourth Circuit held that the government had failed to satisfy its
burden.
Background
As recounted by the Fourth Circuit, in January 2019, Dereck McClellan crashed his car at a service
station. At the time, he lived with Yvonne Silver and their three children in a mortgage-free home he had
inherited. He had also inherited $110,000, some of which he used as seed money for Silver's consumer
products business. McClellan had a long criminal record as well-a 2002 conviction for unlawfully
carrying a weapon, another conviction in 2007 for cocaine trafficking, a third in 2008 for assault and
battery and receiving stolen property, and a fourth in 2013 for possession of marijuana with intent to
distribute.
When police arrived at the scene of the crash, they found McClellan passed out in the car with an empty
bottle of Hennessey beside him and a marijuana blunt in the ash tray. Bundles of cash, totaling close to
$70,000, were scattered throughout the car. McClellan had two medical marijuana identity cards on him
and admitted he had been smoking marijuana.
Local police arrested McClellan at the scene, seized the cash, and charged him with public drunkenness
and driving in violation of the state's open bottle law. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) conducted ion scans on the currency, which tested positive for cocaine and an explosive substance.
DHS initiated civil confiscation proceedings. McClellan and Silver filed claims for the cash, which they
described as proceeds from Silver's business. The district court granted the government's motion for
summary judgment, concluding there was no dispute that the seized cash currently constituted the
proceeds of drug trafficking.
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10829
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/goveiwy0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most