It was a simple call to a vehicle parked in the middle of FM 1712. It resulted in the largest seizure of cash by law enforcement in Milam County history.
Chief Deputy Sheriff Chris White said $830,000 in cash was seized, along with two weapons and what were termed “numerous items of gambling equipment” Monday morning.
Rock Eanes, 40, of Rockdale was charged only with DWI-third offense and unlawfully carrying a weapon.
He was released after posting $12,500 bond.
There isn’t a law against possessing large amounts of cash, and no charges have yet been fi led concerning the money, but that chapter has yet to be written, according to White.
“Usually when you fi nd large sums of money like this—and this is obviously a very large sum of money—there’s an evident reason why it’s there and law enforcement is allowed to fi le seizure papers right away,” White told The Reporter.
“In this case, law enforcement can fi le to seize the money and hold it for 30 days while a criminal case is being prepared,” he said. “Thats what we are doing here. We’ve got 30 days to fi le criminal charges and then the seizure issue will play itself out in court,” he said.
“Law enforcement can seize items when there is a chance they could be used as evidence and it’s also reasonable they could ‘disappear.’ That’s the case with cash,” he said.
White said there are obviously suspicions whenever cash of that amount is found, but declined to go into specifi cs other than noting the “gambling items” he said were recovered.
White told The Reporter the gambling equipment included dice, cards and ledgers.
“It is certainly our intention to fi le something during that 30 days,” he said Tuesday. “We are actively investigating this right now.”
CALL—White said the sheriff’s department was advised a vehicle was stopped in the middle of the roadway in the 2400 block of FM 1712.
“Deputies investigating the call found Eanes passed out behind the wheel,” White said.
After taking Eanes into custody on the DWI charge, a vehicle search was conducted.
“Deputies located a large amount of money, as well as numerous items of gambling equipment in sacks inside the vehicle,” he said.
Sheriff David Greene, a longtime veteran of Milam law enforcement, said he could not remember a money seizure approaching Monday’s and a quick search of Reporter fi les backed up that statement.
There have been large-dollar items seized in raids for various offenses before—a notable incident near Rockdale in September, 2004, netted contraband estimated at over $1-million—but in none of them was cash seized rivaling the amount from Monday’s incident.
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