The pickup truck and $190,000 in cash seized in February when Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion Jr. was arrested on a charged of marijuana possession have been returned.
Guion in March pleaded no contest to possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana and was fined $5,000. Eighth Circuit Judge Robert Groeb withheld adjudication of guilt.
Recommended Videos
If Guion, 27, a Florida State University alumnus, meets all the conditions of the sentence, he will not have a conviction on his record.
The Gainesville Sun quoted attorney Robert Rush, representing Guion in the forfeiture case, saying that he believes the seizure would have been ruled unconstitutional if the city of Stark had not dropped its claim to the property.
“They instituted a forfeiture action, and we didn’t think this was sufficient for any forfeiture, that it would be clearly excessive under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution,” Rush told the newspaper. “He should be afforded that constitutional protection because he paid the maximum fine.”
Starke Police Chief Jeff Johnson said earlier in the year if the cash and truck are forfeited, the money would be used for law enforcement equipment and vehicles, which would really help since his budget to a hit last year.
Guion, 27, was arrested in Starke on Feb. 3 after an a Starke police officer making a traffic said he found nearly a pound of "high grade" marijuana and $190,000 in cash in a black bag in Guion's 2015 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck. A 9 mm handgun was also in the vehicle.
Guion said he legally owned the gun and that he had just cashed his paycheck biweekly paycheck.
Guion, who was a standout at Bradford County High School before attending Florida State University.
Guion was a fifth-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2008 and played there until 2013. He signed a one-year, $1 million contract with Green Bay in March 2014.
In his first year with the Packers, he started all 16 games, recording 32 tackles and 3.5 sacks. So far this year, Guion was credited with 18 tackles, but no sacks.