Aurora brothers drop bid to recover $190,000

Two brothers dropped their lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Aurora and its police department to get back more than $190,000 in cash seized from them in an Oct. 18 traffic stop, their attorney said.

Jesus and Jose Martinez of Aurora said the $190,040 in dozens of duffel bags was their life savings that they were bringing their father so he could pay off his mortgage and retire in Mexico.

Attorneys for the city argued the seizure was part of an ongoing narcotics investigation and a Kane County Judge on Jan. 5 agreed the city had cause to keep it.

Patrick Kinnally, attorney for the two men, said the brothers filed and were granted a motion to voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit against the city.

Kinnally declined to elaborate Tuesday, but argued earlier this month in court that, “You can’t take somebody’s money just because you have a hunch they’re going to buy drugs. This is America. It’s not Russia.”

Neither brother was arrested after the traffic stop.

They had been due in court March 8 to continue the fight for their money.

John Murphey, attorney for Aurora, noted that both brothers were supposed to give depositions next week about where they got the money.

“You have to prove it’s your money,” Murphey said. “They decided to drop their case rather than testify under oath as to where they got the money. It proves to you that people don’t carry $190,000 in packets of $100 bills for legitimate reasons. This case is over.”

Murphey had argued that the seizure was part of a narcotics investigation with the state police and the North Central Narcotics Task Force. He said any further disclosure of information could hamper the investigation.