Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall cannot be sued for seizing $240,000 in a bank account belonging to the brother of Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway in connection with an illegal gambling investigation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

Marshall has qualified immunity, which prevents him from being sued in his individual capacity, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found in its decision backing up a Birmingham federal court’s ruling.

Pettway’s brother, Bruce Pettway, is a businessman whose companies include Employer Benefits Consulting, which received a $15,500 check made out to the company and Bruce Pettway from Brighton Ventures, one of the firms that owns Super Highway Bingo in Bessemer, according to the appeals court decision, which cited financial records in the case.

Suspecting those funds “was the fruit of Highway Bingo’s allegedly unlawful gambling operation,” Marshall obtained a warrant to seize the BBVA bank account where the $15,500 check was deposited.

BBVA froze the entire account, which had about $240,000 to $260,000 in it at the time.

Bruce Pettway sued Marshall, claiming the attorney general’s freezing of the BBVA account was made in bad faith and that the attorney general was engaging in harassment, alleging Marshall “threatened to “handle’ Sheriff Pettway because of Marshall’s disapproval of the sheriff’s enforcement of Alabama gambling laws,” among other reasons.

A Birmingham federal court judge sided with Bruce Pettway’s harassment allegation after finding that Marshall’s move to seize the entire account was disproportionate when only $15,500 was alleged to be tied to illegal gambling and that the attorney general incorrectly insinuated that the whole account contained money from Brighton Ventures.

Judge Karon Bowdre found “the State’s actions against the Plaintiffs were politically or personally motivated, have been procedurally tainted, were all with the intent to harass Plaintiffs, and were all in bad faith.”

The next day, Marshall scaled back his forfeiture action, only intending to go after the $15,500.

Bruce Pettway amended his lawsuit, claiming his constitutional right against excessive fines was violated because the action to seize the $240,000 was disproportionate to the $6,000 fine for illegal gambling and the $15,500 that Marshall alleged was illegally obtained.

Marshall filed a motion to dismiss the case, which a Birmingham federal judge agreed, finding that the attorney general had qualified immunity.

On Tuesday, the appeals court upheld the ruling.

“We don’t make light of the alleged harm Pettway suffered because of the temporary seizure of his bank account,” the decision stated. “Still, the district court did not err in dismissing his claims against Marshall because Marshall is entitled to qualified immunity.”