Family sue TSA after man, 79, has $82K life savings he kept in plastic box seized at airport for ‘no reason’
A FAMILY are suing the TSA after an elderly man's $82K life savings stored in a plastic box were seized at a US airport for no apparent reason.
Terrence Rolin, 79, from Pennsylvania and his daughter Rebecca Brown are lead plaintiff's in a lawsuit filed this week, after agents confiscated Rolin's "suspicious" $82,373 in cash.
Brown was visiting her dad in Pittsburgh back in August when he asked her to put his savings in a joint checking account back in Boston.
But TSA and DEA agents at Pittsburgh International Airport grilled Brown about the large cash sum when she was flying back to Massachusetts before taking it.
Speaking in a press release, Brown said: "My father and his parents worked hard for this money, and the government shouldn't be able to reach into his pocket and take it.
"We did nothing wrong and haven't been charged with any crime, yet the DEA is trying to take my father's life savings.
"His savings should be returned right away, and the government should stop taking money from Americans who are doing something completely legal."
We did nothing wrong and haven't been charged with any crime, yet the DEA is trying to take my father's life savings.
Rebecca Brown
Her dad can't pay for dental work or repairs to his truck since authorities notified him about permanently seizing his savings.
Brown had checked online to confirm carrying cash on a flight is legal and put it in her carry-on bag.
say she passed through security with the money before being approached at the gate by a DEA agent and a state trooper.
They demanded her elderly father back up her story, calling him from the airport, court documents state
But Rolin - a retired railroad worker who reportedly has cognitive issues - was groggy during the 7 am call.
The agent allegedly told Brown her answers "don't match" before taking the cash.
Rolin said he learned from his parents to keep money hidden in the home, not in banks.
He became nervous about holding onto such a large amount of cash, reports the .
Brown and her siblings were supposedly planning to surprise Rolin with a new truck, which her father would not have known when he took the phone call.
The federal class action lawsuit filed on Wednesday by the Institute for Justice accuses the Drug Enforcement Administration and TSA of "treating American citizens like criminals" without any evidence.
But the Virginia-based non profit say Brown and Rolin's situation isn't unique.
The Institute for Justice claim the DEA have a history of civil asset forfeiture, when authorities seize suspect money and property - even if the owner isn't charged with anything.
Police advocates say it's a vital tool in disrupting drug trafficking by seizing the money.
The lawsuit argues this policy of taking funds over $5,000 from travelers without probable cause violates the Fourth Amendment.
This key segment of the US Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
Senior attorney at the Institute for Justice Dan Alban said: "You don't forfeit your constitutional rights when you try to board an airplane.
"It is time for TSA and federal law enforcement to stop seizing cash from travelers simply because the government considers certain amounts of cash 'suspicious.'
"We are trying to bring about institutional change and fix this terribly broken civil forfeiture system."
Back in 2016, revealed federal agents regularly mine the travel information of US travelers for narcotics profiling purposes - but they rarely use the information to make arrests or build a case.
You don't forfeit your constitutional rights when you try to board an airplane.
Senior attorney at the Institute of Justice Dan Alban
The publication reported DEA units assigned to patrol 15 national airports seized a whopping $209 million in cash from at least 5,200 people over the previous 10 years.
The in cash from people suspected of drug activity over the previous decade.
The official report found the majority of these cases never yielded any criminal charges.
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Most of the seizures reportedly happened at airports, train stations, bus terminals, and at traffic stops thanks to the DEA's alleged network of confidential informants.
The Justice Department noted the process of civil asset forfeiture poses a risk to civil liberties.
The TSA was previously reprimanded in 2016 by the Justice Department when it emerged they allegedly recruited an informant who was promised a cut of the confiscated cash.
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