Alabama Cops Raid House, Seize Cash, and Ruin Lives Over $50 of Marijuana

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Latest: An Alabama couple says police kicked in their door, threw a flashbang, and seized thousands of dollars from them through asset forfeiture—all for $50 of weed and a sleeping pill. As a result, they lost their house and their livelihood https://reason.com/blog/2019/04/12/alabama-cops-raided-their-house-seized-

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According to the suit, their son tried to confess to owning the pot, but the DA prosecuted the couple anyway. They're facing misdemeanor possession for personal use. As a result, they had $8,000 in cash seized, along with other valuables https://reason.com/blog/2019/04/12/alabama-cops-raided-their-house-seized-t …

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Real kicker here is they were in the middle of refinancing their loans—they had mortgaged their house to start a chicken farm—but they were in jail the day of the bank deadline. So the bank foreclosed on their home. Now they live in a utility shed https://reason.com/blog/2019/04/12/alabama-cops-raided-their-house-seized-t …

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You can almost hear the cops and the prosecutors involved in this travesty high-{f}iving each other. I mean sure, they could be clearing out those shelves of untested rape kits, but that would be hard and unremunerative.

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ASSET FORFEITURE

Alabama Cops Raided Their House, Seized Their Cash, and Ruined Their Lives Over $50 of Marijuana
Greg and Teresa Almond lost their house after a financially devastating drug raid involving civil asset forfeiture.
C.J. CIARAMELLA | 4.12.2019 1:05 PM

On January 31, 2018, a Randolph County sheriff’s deputy showed up at the home of Greg and Teresa Almond in Woodland, Alabama, to serve Greg court papers in a civil matter.

Greg, 50, wasn’t home, but his wife Teresa told the deputy he would be back before long. About two hours later, after Greg had returned home, he heard loud knocking on the door. He remembers shouting “hang on” and walking toward the door when it suddenly flew open. The next thing he knew he was on the floor—ears ringing, dazed, wondering if he’d just been shot.

Several deputies from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department had kicked in his front door and thrown a flashbang grenade at his feet. The officers handcuffed and detained the couple at gunpoint, then started searching their house. The deputy from earlier had reportedly smelled marijuana, and so a county drug task force was descending on the Almonds’ home, looking for illegal drugs.

“I’m confused, I feel violated, I’m thinking the people who are supposed to serve and protect you basically just threw a bomb in my lap,” Greg recalls.

One may wonder what sort of dangerous criminal enterprise the Almonds were running to warrant such a display of force. The total drug haul for the Randolph County narcotics unit that day: a small amount of marijuana worth $50 or less, which the Almonds’ 27-year-old son later claimed ownership of, and one Lunesta sleeping pill found outside of a prescription bottle with Greg Almond’s name on it.
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