The Legal Reader

At least for now, being pulled over by a Washington state trooper for driving 11 miles over the limit is costing a Canadian man some $275,000.

That's how much an unnamed 35-year-old British Columbia driver had in his car when he was stopped for speeding south on Interstate 5 on Friday--and that's how much authorities confiscated when he couldn't adequately explain why he was carrying the cash and where it came from, reports the Seattle Times. The freeway is the main north-south thoroughfare from Canada to California and the Mexican border.

The money--$276,640, to be exact--was in one of two suitcases in the car's trunk, the newspaper reports. The driver claimed the stacks of dollar bills it contained came from gambling winnings from successful play at 23 casinos in three different states, but couldn't produce receipts. The arresting trooper searched the car because the driver, although he provided a valid license, "struggled to tell the trooper where he was going and how long he had been in Washington," AP reports.

If a legitimate source for the money can be determined, it will be returned to the driver.

Details here from the ABA Journal.