Empyreal Logistics, a Pennsylvania-based company that transports cash from state-licensed marijuana businesses, has reached a settlement with the San Bernardino County, California, Sheriff's Department, which had seized more than $1 million from Empyreal's armored cars. The Justice Department, which was holding the money pending federal forfeiture, agreed to return all of it last month. According to a joint statement that Empyreal and the sheriff's department issued on Friday, "both parties understand that each [was] acting in good faith when the stops were conducted and have come to an understanding that will enable both sides to move forward amicably."
Empyreal, represented by the Institute for Justice, sued Sheriff Shannon Dicus, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and other officials in January, arguing that Dicus had exceeded his legal authority and that the Justice Department was flouting a congressional spending rider barring interference with state medical marijuana programs. Empyreal dropped the federal defendants from its lawsuit after the money was returned. Now the company plans to resume operations in San Bernardino County, and the sheriff's department concedes that Empyreal, far from being implicated in criminal activity, "is part of the solution to help with financial transparency."
