The decision in Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion’s civil forfeiture case came down late Friday and Letroy got screwed.
A judge ruled that Starke, Florida police has probable cause to seize Guion’s truck and about $190,000 in cash, which in other words means the department gets to keep both barring a settlement or Guion winning a jury trial.
And the Starke PD has made it clear they want to keep those things, which makes this whole thing a little suspect.
This comes from the ruling, via the Press-Gazette.
That Guion was traveling in known drug area that one officer described as a “drug corridor” that has yielded more than 300 narcotics cases in the last 20 months, and that the large amount of cash and pot found in the same backpack were strong evidence of a possible drug deal.
The judge said he didn’t find credible Guion’s explanation that he was in that area because he was just “driving through town” on his way to a hotel.
I think there’s strong evidence of a possible drug deal if you’ve got blinders on.
I mean, if Chico the Pimp was driving that truck with $190,000 inside a bag of weed, then yeah. There’s probably something going down here.
On the other hand, when you consider that an NFL player who happens to have grown up in that shithole was the one driving the truck and $190,000 is approximately one-fifth of his yearly salary, it actually seems improbable that something nefarious was going to happen.
At least to a reasonable human being…
Southern justice at it’s finest, folks!
The good news is, this will probably all end up going away pretty soon. Guion’s attorney is working toward a settlement.
You are kidding right?? Ever been through Starke or Waldo FL? Probably not! You don’t drive around that hood with 190 large unless someth’n be up. Went to the check cashing store on 301 and put the last 20% of his salary in his pocket and went sight seeing? Maybe he was going to the famous Waldo flea market in the morning? Fucking moron who use blew millions as a FA….Johnny Cochran’s left the building. This brother is toast!
He is not getting any of the money or his truck back. Civil for forfeiture laws are crazy and the main source of revenue for the police. They probably had a pig roast as celebration.
dude used some seriously flawed decision making skills. No matter how anyone feels about it, weed is illegal in Florida. So, strutting around with 190 K of your paycheck money & carrying your legally possessed firearm when you have 3/4 of a pound of personal use MJ on you is incredibly stupid. If you want to keep your nice truck, your money & your guns then don’t give “the man” an opportunity to take them from you! Guion screwed himself by his own stupidity!
What? Crooked cops who think they’re judge and jury too? Can’t imagine such assholes exist!
What a wonderful tool the internet is! Anyone can establish his own blog and mouth-off about anything, regardless of his lack of education, training or expertise. That includes Monty, the author of this piece. According to his bio, Monty lives in L.A., is a writer and attended, but apparently did not graduate from, UW-Oshkosh. Among other things, his interests are beer, whiskey, women and the GB Packers. So, does that make him an expert on Florida’s criminal law, its probable cause standard and civil forfeiture law? Apparently so. Ah, what arrogance!
Cops are the same everywhere, counselor. And look, despite your apparent ignorance you commented here just fine.
Very simple don’t drive around with that much weed and you won’t get into trouble.
I can understand the 3/4 LB of bud. What would bother me as a judge or prosecutor is the large amount of cash. It is hard to believe anyone including a pro athlete carries around that amount of cash as a rainy day account or entertainment funds for a trip to a gentleman’s club. Carrying around that amount of cash probably has impressed on a judge that he could be a dealer.
I’ve been a Green Bay Packers fan since I came out of the womb but I have to disagree with this article. Everyone knows you dont keep the drugs and the money together, this is a very intelligent black man whom spent 4 years in a division 1 college. He was swerving and had his body hanging out the window, so he was asking for this. Whether the money came from Packer pay checks doesnt even matter, those pay checks were what bought that pot. Btw Guion was going to get his first major contract as a player in the NFL and gets caught with a large amount of pot cuz he was swerving. The ignorance of this is at an all time high. Btw this is a black male, I bring up his skin color cuz cops treat black males differently than a white male like myself. Sad reality but just plain ignorance on the part of one of my favorite Packer players. Come on Guion
Rule #1 Don’t drive stupid if you are riding dirty.
How many “COPS” episodes involving drug felonies start of by someone crossing over a lane line or not using a turn signal?