MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A federal judge has ruled that the government can keep cash that Saraland police seized during a traffic stop that never resulted in criminal charges against the driver.
Police pulled over the rental car in April 2023. According to court records, a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the odor of marijuana, but officers did not find drugs or guns. Still, they concluded that the $27,300 in the vehicle was connected to criminal activity.
The driver, a Texas man named Williams Ontiveros-Maciel, challenged the seizure. He maintained that he was scouting potential properties and brought the money in case he found one…