Emery County's top prosecutor and sheriff have 10 days to come up with $100,900 improperly seized from a motorist who was never charged - or they may go to jail for contempt of court.
At the conclusion of a 20-minute hearing Thursday, 7th District Judge Bryce Bryner sentenced County Attorney Patricia Geary and Sheriff LaMar Guymon to 20 days.However, court clerk Wendy Downard said Bryner then stayed execution of the sentence for 10 days to "allow them to purge themselves of the contempt by return of the currency."
Both Guymon and Geary said chances were slim they would be able to avoid time behind bars.
"I might as well go check in now because there's nothing I can do," Guymon said.
"I'll do what I can to retrieve the money, but I'm not sure what I can do," Geary added, noting the cash was in the custody of the federal government.
The contempt charges stem from Geary's refusal to return to its owner money found in a gas tank of a California-bound van in April 1989. The money, in $5,000 bundles wrapped in brown paper, was discovered after deputies obtained a search warrant.
A drug-sniffing dog reacted to the money, but no drugs were recovered. Based on that evidence, 7th District Judge Boyd Bunnell ruled the county could legally seize the cash on a civil forfeiture.
The van's owner, California auto shop-owner Hurdley Evans, challenged the ruling. He said the money was from the sale of his business.
In January, the Utah Supreme Court declared the 1989 seizure illegal in a precedent-setting ruling that stated civil forfeitures must be justified by an underlying criminal act.
The case was sent back to district court, where Bunnell ordered Geary and Guymon to return the money to Evans.
But Geary ordered deputies to defy the order and instead give the confiscated money to the FBI. The U.S. Attorney's Office has reportedly instigated forfeiture proceedings of its own.
U.S. Attorney David Jordan was not immediately available late Thursday to answer questions about a possible return of the $100,900.
Geary also implied Thursday that her difficulties were at least partially politically motivated since Evans' attorney, Mark H. Tanner, is campaigning to unseat her.
But Tanner denied the allegation, saying the taking of his client's money "became an act of piracy" when Geary ignored the court order to return the cash.