ByÂ
In a bid to extricate itself from litigation, the federal government is giving back more than $1 million a California sheriff’s office seized from an armored car company that serves state-licensed marijuana businesses.
The Justice Department’s April 13 settlement with Empyreal Logistics is the first domino to fall from nationwide interceptions of the service’s cash transports under the federal equitable sharing program, which gives up to 80% of proceeds to jurisdictions that seize them on behalf of the feds.
Lawyers for Empyreal and San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus are “in discussion regarding potential settlement and dismissal” of the entire California lawsuit, according to a joint filing the same day seeking another 30 days for the sheriff to respond…