State Police Seize $22,500 From Stripper Who Said She Was Going To Buy A Car

An East Moline stripper lost $22,500 to a state trooper who pulled her over near Minooka.

Laterria Bailey-Porter, 22, was not charged with committing any crimes but still lost her money during the traffic stop, according to a complaint for forfeiture filed in Will County court.

Bailey-Porter was stopped for speeding on Interstate 80 in August, the complaint said, but there is no traffic citation on file for her, according to court records.

Bailey-Porter had no driver’s license or other identification on her, the complaint said, and claimed the Jaguar XF she was driving belonged to the boyfriend of “her lifelong girlfriend April.” Despite the length of their friendship, Bailey-Porter reportedly did not know April’s last name, or the name of the boyfriend.

Bailey-Porter explained she was heading to Chicago to visit a friend, the complaint said, but did not know this friend’s name either.

A state police dog, Okar, “alerted to the presence of a narcotic odor within the vehicle,” the complaint said. When asked if there was any contraband in the car, Bailey-Porter reportedly mentioned that she was carrying a lot of cash, so much so that she wasn’t even sure just how much she had on her.

Bailey-Porter, who told a trooper she worked as a stripper at a place called Duke’s, explained that she was planning to go to Auto Max in Markham so she could buy a Chevy Trailblazer, the complaint said. Bailey-Porter reportedly went on to tell the trooper she doesn’t like to use banks and hadn’t filed an income tax return in the last two years.

The complaint says Bailey-Porter’s money was either “given in exchange for narcotics or represents proceeds from such an exchange,” and that the cash was the product of money laundering, although two months later, the East Moline woman was not charged with a drug offense or money laundering.

A December court date was scheduled for Bailey-Porter to try to get her money back.