Marine
01-01-2003, 7:19pm
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Police confiscated $50,000 in cash from a Vermont couple who had come to bail their daughter out of jail, claiming the money smelled like marijuana.
Police said they thought the cash could be the proceeds of drug deals.
Nikita Santor’s parents, Arlene and Martin Edward Santor of Wallingford, Vt., brought the money Dec. 21 to the Hampshire County Jail. Most of the money was in $20 bills wrapped in rubber bands, according to police.
The officer at the jail detected a “slight odor of marijuana,” according to a sworn statement. A police dog then sniffed the money and confirmed the drug smell, the police affidavit said.
According to police, the Santors told them the money came from their daughter’s friends.
Nikita Santor, 27, of Ascutney, Vt., and Michael Lenahan, 36, of Walpole, N.H., were arrested Dec. 18 on Interstate 91 in Northampton. Santor, who was driving Lenahan’s car, was pulled over for following another car too closely.
Police said the state trooper who pulled her over smelled marijuana in the car and a search recovered marijuana and $12,000.
Police said they later found other drugs, cash and a handgun in Santor’s and Lenahan’s homes.
Both pleaded innocent to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
The district attorney’s office is seeking to keep the $50,000 brought to bail out Santor, who remains in jail. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 16
http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/Archive/Articles/Article/58285
Police said they thought the cash could be the proceeds of drug deals.
Nikita Santor’s parents, Arlene and Martin Edward Santor of Wallingford, Vt., brought the money Dec. 21 to the Hampshire County Jail. Most of the money was in $20 bills wrapped in rubber bands, according to police.
The officer at the jail detected a “slight odor of marijuana,” according to a sworn statement. A police dog then sniffed the money and confirmed the drug smell, the police affidavit said.
According to police, the Santors told them the money came from their daughter’s friends.
Nikita Santor, 27, of Ascutney, Vt., and Michael Lenahan, 36, of Walpole, N.H., were arrested Dec. 18 on Interstate 91 in Northampton. Santor, who was driving Lenahan’s car, was pulled over for following another car too closely.
Police said the state trooper who pulled her over smelled marijuana in the car and a search recovered marijuana and $12,000.
Police said they later found other drugs, cash and a handgun in Santor’s and Lenahan’s homes.
Both pleaded innocent to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
The district attorney’s office is seeking to keep the $50,000 brought to bail out Santor, who remains in jail. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 16
http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/Archive/Articles/Article/58285