MANSFIELD — Attorneys for a California trucker who was stopped here as part of an undercover New Jersey State Police surveillance operation are fighting the state over $706,890 found in the driver’s cab.
Troy Hodges of Compton, California was stopped while driving a Freightliner on the New Jersey Turnpike on Dec. 13, 2023, according to state police and court records.
Hodges agreed to his vehicle being searched and money was found in several locations inside the cab, authorities allege.
The state Division of Criminal Justice Forfeiture Bureau filed a lawsuit in March in Burlington County Superior Court.
The lawsuit seeks to take the money for the state, alleging it had or would have had a connection to some criminal activity.
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California-based attorney David Dudley has challenged the proposed seizure, asking the court to return the money to Hodges.