A recent federal lawsuit alleges the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office seized $450,000 during a traffic stop last year and — after filing no charges — failed to return the truck driver’s money.

George Siddell, a California attorney representing plaintiff Joe Anthony Gomez, said in an interview this week he has handled many law enforcement forfeiture cases in his 55 years in practice and this one doesn’t appear to have been handled according to protocol. He suspects he has a case of corruption and believes his client’s cash “ended up in somebody’s pocket.”

An official with the sheriff’s office contends, however, there was no money and no traffic stop.

How then, does the agency explain a copy of a “search warrant inventory” form for an “unknown amount” of cash attached to the complaint?

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