Company stopped for hauling legal weed funds across Kansas settles federal suit

“Empyreal was operating legally under California law, but with current federal civil forfeiture laws, even compliant businesses can be targeted,” said IJ Senior Attorney Dan Alban of the now settled federal case.

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State News

April 14, 2022 - 3:30 PM

Empyreal’s armored vehicle, which was carrying $165,000 in cash from marijuana dispensaries in Missouri, was stopped May 18, 2021, at this exit on I-70 as it headed for Colorado. The company settled a federal suit but litigation relating to Kansas remains ongoing. Photo by (Duane Schrag for Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — The U.S. Department of Justice agreed Wednesday to return all cash seized from an armored car company used by legal marijuana dispensaries during several traffic stops in California last year.

The California seizures occurred based on what authorities learned in Kansas during a May traffic stop of an Empyreal Logistics car. Conversations between state and federal law enforcement agencies stemming from this stop resulted in a series of events in which Kansas and California officers seized more than $1.2 million.

Soon after, the company filed a federal lawsuit…

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