The money was supposed to go toward buying a legendary music studio. Now his dreams are on hold.
By
German Lopez@germanrlopezgerman.lopez
Update: Wyoming lawmakers, citing this story, have now banned the roadside waivers that police used to wrongly take Phil Parhamovich’s $91,800.
Previously,
Parhamovich had gotten his money back during a court hearing just hours after
this story was published, with the backing of state legislators who read Vox’s
reporting. But the new law will help ensure that more people don’t suffer a
similar fate.
Parhamovich
said in a statement that it’s “a great relief to know that no one will have to
go through what I went through. Obviously our police system is in need of many
reforms but this is a step in the right direction.”
What
follows is the original story, published on December 1, 2017.
Phil
Parhamovich had been waiting for this moment for a long time. The 50-year-old
had spent years restoring and selling houses, cars, and musical instruments,
often clocking 12-hour workdays, to save up more than $91,000. And now it was
all going to pay off: He would buy a music studio in Madison, Wisconsin, where
Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins recorded songs — not just fulfilling a dream
of owning a monument to grunge rock, but also giving him a space to work on his
own career as a musician.
Then
came the police stop this past March. By the time it was over, police in Wyoming
would take all of Parhamovich’s money — the full $91,800. Parhamovich, who has
no criminal record, was not accused of or charged with a serious crime; he only
got a $25 ticket for improperly wearing his seat belt and a warning for “lane
use.”
But
Wyoming law enforcement officers found and eventually seized the $91,800 in
cash, as it was hidden in a speaker cabinet — by getting Parhamovich, under what
he claims was duress, to sign away his interest in the money through a
waiver.
He
has since tried to get his money back. But state law enforcement officials have
rejected his pleas. Responding to a request for records related to Parhamovich’s
case, state officials said they consider the cash “abandoned.” The state has
even moved to forfeiture the money without notifying Parhamovich of the relevant
court hearing until after it happened.
Read
more
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