Wyoming has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a mother-and-son hemp farming duo after law enforcement wrongly seized their crop in 2019, mistakenly suspecting the plants were illegal cannabis. According to a report from WyoFile, the settlement covers the attorney fees incurred during the legal battle and compensation for the defense attorneys hired in 2021 and 2022.
Debra Palm-Egle and her son, Joshua Egle, were initially hit with serious drug trafficking charges, including conspiracy to manufacture, deliver, or possess marijuana, possession with intent to deliver marijuana, and possession of marijuana—all felonies. The pair also faced a lesser marijuana cultivation charge. However, lab testing during the investigation revealed that the seized plants had THC levels within the federal limit of 0.3%, which is consistent with industrial hemp crops.
In 2021, a federal judge dismissed all charges against the farmers, and in May 2022, Palm-Egle filed a civil suit. This month, Wyoming reached a settlement, ending the legal saga.
Palm-Egle expressed relief that the case was finally over and hopes the settlement will encourage law enforcement to think more carefully before seizing hemp crops in the future.
“This has been a long fight, and I’m grateful that I’m finished with this and I hope that no one else goes through this in the state,” Palm-Egle told WyoFile.
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