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Started By
Message
OK Sheriff indicted for bribery, extortion after traffic stop
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:27 pm
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:27 pm
quote:
Colbert and Deputy Jeffrey Gragg are alleged to have conspired together to bribe two individuals, taking $10,000 in exchange for not pursuing drug charges.
According to a news release, Gragg performed a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by Torrell Wallace and a 17-year-old passenger. During the stop, the release says Gragg searched the vehicle and found $10,000.
Wallace and the passenger said the cash belonged to them. The release says they were arrested for possession of drug proceeds. They were taken to the jail where, according to the release, Colbert and Gragg accepted a bribe and released Wallace and the 17-year-old and their records were deleted.
LINK
LINK
Apparently these guys got pulled over and charged with drug charges for possessing $10k in cash. Back at the jailhouse, the sheriff offered to drop charges in exchange for waiving their rights to the cash that was seized.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:28 pm to NYNolaguy1
Cops are messed up
But probably was drug money
But probably was drug money
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:29 pm to NYNolaguy1
Uhh, he doesnt sound like an ok sheriff to me. I'd hate to see what you call a bad sheriff.
This post was edited on 4/1/16 at 1:29 pm
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:29 pm to NYNolaguy1
Sounds like a good deal for both sides
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:31 pm to biglego
quote:
Sounds like a good deal for both sides
Carrying cash is not a crime.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:40 pm to biglego
quote:
Sounds like a good deal for both sides
If I had drugs on me I'd take that deal
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:41 pm to bencoleman
quote:
If I had drugs on me I'd take that deal
And if you didn't have drugs? How much is your freedom worth?
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:43 pm to bencoleman
Is anything over a certain amount of cash automatically considered the result of drug proceeds? I am not sure how this money could be proven to be drug related unless this was a sting.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:46 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:
Carrying cash is not a crime.
I hate civil asset forfeiture as much as the next guy, mostly out of principle, but my anecdotal evidence seems to validate the suspicions in the majority of these cases.
Again, I don't like the law, but if you've got $10k in cash on you and you cannot validate the source of those funds, there is in incredibly high likelihood it is from illegal sources.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:47 pm to jdd48
quote:
this money could be proven to be drug related
The burden of proof is on the defendant to prove he's an innocent owner. If he either waives his right to a trial, or can't afford an attorney, money goes bye bye regardless of how ridiculous the circumstances are.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:48 pm to NYNolaguy1
This isn't a bug, this is a complication of the feature. Civil Forfeiture is how many police departments stay afloat instead of cutting costs:
LINK
LINK
quote:
Hundreds of state and local departments and drug task forces appear to rely on seized cash, despite a federal ban on the money to pay salaries or otherwise support budgets. The Post found that 298 departments and 210 task forces have seized the equivalent of 20 percent or more of their annual budgets since 2008.
quote:
There have been 61,998 cash seizures made on highways and elsewhere since 9/11 without search warrants or indictments through the Equitable Sharing Program, totaling more than $2.5 billion. State and local authorities kept more than $1.7 billion of that while Justice, Homeland Security and other federal agencies received $800 million. Half of the seizures were below $8,800.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:48 pm to slackster
quote:
Again, I don't like the law, but if you've got $10k in cash on you and you cannot validate the source of those funds, there is in incredibly high likelihood it is from illegal sources.
I didn't read anything in either article saying they couldn't account for the money. My hunch is that the popo saw the cash and thought it was easy dough.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:49 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:Get off my lawn!
Torrell
This post was edited on 4/1/16 at 1:50 pm
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:51 pm to jdd48
quote:
Is anything over a certain amount of cash automatically considered the result of drug proceeds? I am not sure how this money could be proven to be drug related unless this was a sting.
Well if the money is legal it is relatively easy to prove your innocence. This is guilty until proven innocent, and I hate that on principle, but it's not as if you should drive around on pins and needles if you go get $50k in cash from the bank in order to purchase a vehicle.
On a slightly related note, there are an incredibly small amount of legal and/or practical reasons someone needs that much cash on hand. However, that doesn't make CAF okay by any means.
This post was edited on 4/1/16 at 2:03 pm
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:55 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:
I didn't read anything in either article saying they couldn't account for the money. My hunch is that the popo saw the cash and thought it was easy dough.
Sure, and I think common sense says that the people who were arrested let the money walk knowing they were screwed because it was drug money. CAF should be unconstitutional, but I also don't believe there are a ton of innocent people getting caught up in the web.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 1:55 pm to slackster
quote:
Again, I don't like the law, but if you've got $10k in cash on you and you cannot validate the source of those funds, there is in incredibly high likelihood it is from illegal sources.
So when I leave for Florida Sunday morning to buy a boat I need proof my cash didn't come from selling dope?
Are there any other aspects of peoples life you would like to control in the name of justice?
Douche bag
Posted on 4/1/16 at 2:00 pm to slackster
quote:
Well if the money is legal it is relatively easy to prove your innocence. This is guilty until proven innocent, and I hate that on principle, but it's not as you should drive around on pins and needles if you go get $50k in cash from the bank in order to purchase a vehicle.
If you read the link from earlier on the page you'll hopefully feel more empathy. The departments do this to steal money from people and fund their own salaries. The expense of fighting an appeal process to have your money returned is a terrible cost since it costs people time and money and may mean they have to prove their innocence in a kangaroo court which receives funding from the seizures.
The entire process runs exactly opposite to our core values (of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and the right to be presumed innocent).
Posted on 4/1/16 at 2:02 pm to slackster
quote:is it though? Being out whatever was seized, and then spending more money on a lawyer that may or may not be returned after trial. I have read about stories where after initial arrest, bonds are set just high enough where defendants in jail can't attend their seizure hearings. Only after seizure is finalized are they released without charges shortly afterward.
Well if the money is legal it is relatively easy to prove your innocence.
More often than not defendants spend more money on counsel than what was seized. This is by design to discourage people from fighting seizures.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 2:03 pm to slackster
quote:
Again, I don't like the law, but if you've got $10k in cash on you and you cannot validate the source of those funds, there is in incredibly high likelihood it is from illegal sources.
Oh frick that, validating whether it was gotten through illicit means is the job of the police.
Mandating someone carrying around high amounts of cash to prove it isn't drug money is very much assuming guilt and making the perp prove their innocence- this goes against every aspect of how our justice system is supposed to operate.
Posted on 4/1/16 at 2:05 pm to Barf
quote:
Are there any other aspects of peoples life you would like to control in the name of justice?
I said it should be unconstitutional, but the idea that departments are stealing money from the innocent left and right is a bit overblown. I've read a horror story or two, but by and large this shite happens to people who obtained the money from illegal sources.
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