We want the money

Here's a great case name: U.S.A. v. $124,700 in U.S. Currency. Yes, that's right, the "defendant" was money. The 8th Circuit just upheld a money forfeiture case in which authorities seized $124,700 hidden in a cooler of a Californian man driving a rental car in Nebraska. Emiliano Gomez Gonzolez was pulled over for speeding and consented to a search, which yielded the hidden cash.

This wasn't a criminal prosecution against the defendant, however -- the case was against the actual money. A drug-sniffing dog named "Rico" smelled cocaine on the money and in the rental car, and other circumstances were suspicious -- the man had lied to the police, among other things. So even though the man wasn't convicted, he's out almost $125 grand.

I've heard several times that a large percentage of U.S. currency has been involved in drug transactions, and may have trace amounts of illegal drugs on it. If this is true, a drug-sniffing dog could smell drugs on your money even if you are involved in a perfectly legitimate enterprise. So if you're planning in shipping large quantities of money across country, St. Louis University Law School professor Robert Goldman has this advice: "You better get new bills and try something other than a cooler."

Via NPR.