SEIZED MONEY SOUGHT BY LAW

Drug Agency Files For Forfeiture Of $371,000

OLIVE BRANCH - Federal officials are seeking the forfeiture of more than
$371,000 seized from a suspected drug drop-off spot in DeSoto County.

The complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oxford is part of the
Drug Enforcement Administration's ongoing, multi-state investigation,
officials said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Lamar said Thursday that the money was found
near a barn in Whispering Pines subdivision near Olive Branch on March 19,
2002.

Federal officials believe the DeSoto County property was being used to
store marijuana prior to its shipment. According to the complaint, several
informants told federal officials that from 1994 to November 2002 they had
provided marijuana to the location every two or three weeks.

A search was conducted March 14 of the home owned by Michael Neil Cherry
and his wife, Lisa Marie Cherry.

Officers found drug records and $68,323 in cash inside the residence.

They also searched a barn on the property and found five, 45-pound bundles
of marijuana.

The complaint also states that federal officials were told by a
confidential source that there was a duffel bag on the property "containing
a sizable sum of cash money."

DEA agents and other officers returned to the property on March 19 and
found several black plastic bags in a brush pile near the barn. One of
those bags contained a blue duffel bag containing $371,910 in cash.

The complaint alleges the money was used in the illegal drug trade.

Neither Michael Cherry nor his wife have been arrested or indicted at this
time, authorities said.