Two California poker players have filed a federal lawsuit against the Iowa State Patrol following an incident in April 2013 in which they were stopped on the highway by a state trooper and relieved of their poker bankroll, more than $100,000.
As reported by the Des Moines Register, William “Bart” Davis and John Newmerzhycky were travelling west on I-80 on April 15th, 2013, in a rented red Nissan Altima after a tournament in Joliet, Illinois. The two had been friends about two years and had a mentor/mentee relationship. Shortly before 9:00am, Tropper Justin Simmons began following the men after an Illinois officer had reported “concerns” about a red vehicle. According to a deposition, Simmons did not known why the warning was put out about the vehicle (and, of course, he had no idea if the red vehicle he was tailing was the one in question).
After ten minutes, Simmons pulled the two men over, saying they failed to signal when passing an SUV. This cause was later debunked by the trooper’s in-car dash cam. Simmons put Newmerzhycky in his patrol car to conduct a “motorist interview.” During this interview, Simmons said Newmerzhycky “appeared to be breathing rapidly and fidgeting with his hands,” signs that he could be guilty of criminal activity. Then again, many of us would show signs of nervousness if we were suddenly pulled over and put in the back of a police car for no apparent reason.
Davis, who was still in the rental car, said, “I figured, once they get our (California) addresses, we’re screwed. They’re going to take us apart and take our money.”
Newmerzhycky was told he was free to leave with a warning, but Simmons then asked him if there was any cash or drugs in the car. He said no, but he knew there was $85,020 in a briefcase plus another $15,000 in the vehicle. For whatever reason, Simmons called Trooper Eric VanderWiel to bring over a drug-sniffing dog. The two troopers said the dog “alerted” on the back of the car, but according to the Register, that could not be seen in the dash cam video.
The troopers searched the car and found the money plus marijuana paraphernalia and a small amount of pot. Newmerzhycky and Davis have California medical marijuana cards, but as they were in Iowa, they were cited for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Newmerzhycky and Davis were then taken with their car to a nearby Department of Transportation office and were told they could leave the state, but had to surrender their $100,000. The troopers also contacted California authorities, who searched the men’s houses and found more marijuana, which led to felony drug charges.
Naturally, the two men were and are incensed over what they had to endure. They hired an attorney, leading to a settlement with the state in which Iowa returned $90,000 of the money, though a large chunk had to be used for attorney’s fees. The drug charges in California were also dropped after prosecutors saw the dash cam video. Now Newmerzhycky and Davis are suing to try to get back more money. Davis said that he had to sit out tournaments for about half a year because of the loss of the money and poker tournaments are the main source of his income. Newmerzhycky claims that he suffered a stroke after learning of the felony drug charges and was unable to resume a glass blowing business he once had.
Glen Downey, the attorney for the two men, told the Register that this was just another case of interdiction teams abusing their authority in the name of supposedly catching criminals. “There is absolutely nothing illegal or uncommon about people driving through the United States with out-of-state plates … and carrying amounts of cash,” Downey told the newspaper. “There’s nothing illegal about carrying cash, and yet law enforcement begins to treat individuals who are carrying cash as if they are criminals.”
According to the Register, 86 percent of the 22,000 warnings and citations given by Iowa interdiction teams from 2008 through 2012 were to out-of-state drivers.
