Poker Couple Lose $100k In Highway Robbery

(Photo: Calvinayre.com)

When William Davis and John Newmerzhycky tucked their combined $100,000 poker bankroll in the boot of their car as they headed back from a WSOP event in Joliet, Illinois to their Californian homes, they ended up wishing that they had taken a route which didn’t go through Des Moines, Iowa. One suspect police stop and search later, the unlucky pair had their $100K entire winnings confiscated by state troopers.

This week the players finally settled their lawsuit, accepting $60,000 on top of the $90,000 which was returned in 2014, amid news that the Iowa state forfeiture teams which targeted mainly out-of-state drivers has been disbanded, critics alleging that ‘the team used unconstitutional practices to seize private property for law enforcement profits,’ according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Newmerzhycky – who plead guilty to ‘misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia’ for the small amount of marijuana the troopers found during their illegal search – claimed back in 2014:

"They took everything that I owned at that point in my life.”

Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Peterzalek recommended Monday’s $60,000 settlement in “light of the complexity of the case and the potential exposure to the state,” but claimed that this case was not the reason behind disbanding the Drug Interdiction Team, which has been partly responsible for the seizing of $55million over the past decade – the money being used to benefit state and local law enforcement agencies in Iowa, “often the same departments that are confiscating the money.”

Reason.com reported of the intial stop and search:

"The troopers found $85,000 inside Davis' locked briefcase, plus another $15,000 in Newmerzhycky's computer bag, where they also found a grinder with bits of marijuana in it, which resulted in a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia — the only Iowa charge brought against either man.”

Both men were carrying valid Californian ‘medical marijuana’ certificates, and it was proven that the Iowan Troopers’ reasons for the stop – namely that the poker players had failed to signal a turn – was completely false as proven by their own police dash cam.

Newmerzhycky, who has since suffered serious health problems including a stroke, outlined the devastating effect the money seizure had on him. He told the PressCitizen:

"My game was just starting to get on point and we decided to take that road trip…[T]hose Iowa cops pretty much put an end to [my poker playing] too and ruined my life.”

He added that:

"I had people willing to back me at the time, but after this happened that was all off the table. Basically, I had to move out of my house and be homeless for a while because I couldn’t pay my mortgage. I had to rent out my home.”

The attorney for the two poker players, Glen Downey, stated after Monday’s announcement, “The true importance of this lawsuit was that it forced the state of Iowa to re-examine its decades-long practice of pushing the constitutional boundaries of the state’s civil asset forfeiture law and to disband the Iowa Drug Interdiction Team,” as it was revealed that the settlement and previous repayment would total $150,000 – at least $30,000 going on lawyer fees.

"There is absolutely nothing illegal or uncommon about people driving through the United States with out-of-state plates... and carrying amounts of cash," stated the men’s lawyer during the appeal, adding: "There's nothing illegal about carrying cash, and yet law enforcement begins to treat individuals who are carrying cash as if they are criminals."