TOM MORTON Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Friday, February 15, 2008 12:00 am
The Wyoming Highway Patrol will not apply for any of the $3.3 million seized by now ex-trooper Ben Peech during a traffic stop in Cheyenne last April, even though the seizure played a critical role in investigating a nationwide drug ring, Col. Sam Powell said Thursday.
"The reality is, our involvement in the totality of the investigation was fairly nominal," Powell said.
Playing down his agency's and Peech's role, Powell said the investigation had been going on for months, and the application process wouldn't be worth it.
A lead prosecutor couldn't believe a government agency wouldn't want free money, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Whalley of the Western District of Washington.
"That's ridiculous," Whalley said. "I've never heard of it."
While the traffic stop and follow-up work itself didn't take much time, Whalley hailed Peech's work.
Peech, working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, pulled over a pickup truck westbound on Interstate 80 on April 7, 2007.
That stop yielded $3,322,230 found in vacuum-wrapped plastic packages in eight suitcases plus five cell phones, which authorities confiscated. The DEA infers such a large amount of cash with no good explanation about its purpose may be related to drug trafficking.
The pickup driver, Rusty Boschee, was later indicted and pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to distribute about 650 pounds of high-grade marijuana. He faces between five years to 40 years imprisonment.
The guilty plea included a criminal forfeiture of the $3.3 million to the federal government.
Despite Peech's role, the Wyoming Highway Patrol in early November fired him for alleged improper tactics during the traffic stop.
His supporters claim the WHP fired him for trying to organize troopers in a union.
Whalley lauded Peech, saying he did not give any indication to Boschee the government knew of his activities.
The federal government will distribute the $3.3 million to participating agencies, including the DEA and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said. "When the federal government forfeits the money, Wyoming law enforcement will receive a share thanks to Trooper Peech's assistance."
Whalley didn't know how much that would be, but it probably would have been in the thousands of dollars, he said.
However, the Wyoming Highway Patrol isn't interested, Powell said.
Peech, meanwhile, has been appealing his termination through his attorney Sean Olson of Denver.
The highway patrol, Olson said Wednesday, would be hypocritical to collect some of the $3.3 million after it fired the trooper who did most of the work. "He gets a slap in the face and Wyoming gets a share of the money."
When told the highway patrol won't apply for the money, Olson said Thursday the decision makes sense from a public relations perspective.
"If they were to accept the money, it makes them look bad," he said.
"They know they're in litigation," Olson said. "It behooves them to avoid any inference of impropriety on their end."
Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@trib.com.