Litigation settled between Armored Car Company, which ships cannabis, and San Bernardino County

A joint statement was released on May 6, saying that both Empyreal and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in Southern California “both understand this [was] acted in good faith when the stops were implemented and reached an understanding that allows both sides to move forward amicably.”

Empyreal vans were stopped by Sheriff Shannon Dicus’ deputies in November, December and January and had seized legal cannabis sales totaling $1.1 million. The US Department of Justice’s Fair Allocation Program allows the Sheriff’s Department to withhold up to 80% of funds collected through civil forfeitures. Although the state of California prohibits law enforcement from seizing legal cannabis money, Dicus turned the confiscated money over to the FBI, claiming it was evidence in an ongoing investigation. The federal government has since agreed to return 100% of the money seized, although the lawsuit against Dicus lasted until recently.

According to The San Bernardino Sun, Dicus believed the seizure carried out by his department was legitimate. On November 16, the Empyreal vehicle, a Ford van, pulled two meters behind a tractor-trailer truck and towed a trailer. “During the stop, the deputy made other observations, including conflicting statements from the driver and company officials, leading the deputy to believe the contents of the van were illegal proceeds of illegal drug sales,” Dicus said of the incident. Based on this information, Deputy J. Franco obtained a search warrant to investigate and seized $700,000 collected from four state-licensed cannabis companies.

A similar incident occurred on December 9 with the same Empyreal Ford van changing lanes without signaling. There was also a document that instructed drivers how to respond to law enforcement if they were stopped. “The document specifically instructed the driver to ‘never say the words cannabis or marijuana,’ and ‘never name the banks or customers we serve.” That day, the van was transporting $350,000. An Empyreal van was stopped a third time on January 6, but was only carrying rolled coins unrelated to the cannabis industry.

Empyreal filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Jan. 14, demanding that Sheriff Shannon Dicus, as well as FBI Director Christopher Wray and Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram, stop targeting Empyreal, alleging that the Seizing the company’s legitimate sales was “highway robbery.” At the time, Dicus believed the lawsuit was “no more than a crusade against interest groups and a blatant attempt to interfere with ongoing local criminal investigations.”

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department responded to that description on May 6, saying that while the department will continue to work against “illegal marijuana cultivation and criminal enterprises,” Empyreal is not involved in these efforts. “Both sides also recognize that Empyreal is part of the solution to help provide financial transparency and that San Bernardino Deputies are not muggers as previously reported in the media,” the department wrote in a May 6 press release.

Empyreal hired Injustice for Justice, a not-for-profit public-interest law firm specializing in defending civil forfeiture cases, to conduct the lawsuit. According to a press statement from Senior Attorney Dan Alban, this is a welcome win for the firm and Empyreal. “We are pleased to have helped Empyreal achieve a successful outcome and return to business operations in San Bernardino County,” Alban said. “We will continue to challenge civil forfeits nationwide at the state and federal levels.”

Empyreal CEO Deirdra O’Gorman also released a statement saying he was pleased that his company and the Sheriff’s Department were able to reach an agreement on the matter. “Empyreal, our financial institution customers, and their state-licensed cannabis customers comply with the law, which is why we have decided to legally challenge the seizures in San Bernardino County,” O’Gorman said. “Now that the funds have been returned and we have met with the sheriff, we are confident that we can continue to serve state businesses without future disruption.”