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A 58-year-old shoeshine man was reportedly walking through a Columbus, Ohio, airport with almost $30,000 in cash on him last fall, money he had been saving throughout his life. Kermit Warren reportedly made the trip to buy a truck with his son, but according to NBC News, things hadn’t worked out, and he was heading back home to Louisiana before being stopped by DEA agents.

According to NBC News, after they noticed that he wasn’t carrying any luggage and had a large sum of cash, Warren had his life savings

seized in Nov. 2020, with the federal agents assuming the money to be drug-related. Nearly a year later, prosecutors have decided to both dismiss the matter and give Warren his money back, the news outlet reported, something he says brings him a “great amount of joy and peace.”

The New Orleans native was legally represented by attorneys from the Institute of Justice, a non-profit law firm based in Virginia. According to NBC News, Warren’s legal team challenged the idea that he was carrying drug money by

presenting evidence that detailed his income, along with text messages between him and the truck owner he attempted to purchase from.

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Institute of Justice attorney Dan Alban reportedly commented on the recent victory, “We’re relieved that Kermit is getting his money back, but we’re also very upset that he was left destitute for an entire year for no good reason due to the callous, profit-driven actions of the DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio,” continuing, “Kermit’s case highlights how the federal government abuses civil forfeiture. It seizes cash on the flimsiest of pretexts – traveling with cash at an airport – and effectively forces people to prove their own innocence to get their money back.”

According to NBC News, prosecutors will “make all best efforts” to return the $28,180 owed to Warren by Thanksgiving Day.