Randolph County couple Greg and Teresa Almond were recently awarded $1 million in punitive and compensatory damages after a federal jury determined that deputies illegally raided their home six years ago.

On Jan. 31, 2018, Randolph County Deputy Sheriff Nathaniel Morrow arrived at the Almond home around 2 p.m. and told Teresa that he was there to serve paperwork related to ‘a civil matter,’ according to documents from a federal civil rights lawsuit the couple filed in 2019.

Teresa told Morrow that Greg wasn’t home but said that he could return in two hours to give him the paperwork then.

Two hours later, a county drug task force returned based on Morrow’s claim that he smelled marijuana on the premises.

Shortly after Greg returned home, members of the task force kicked in the door of the Almonds’ home and threw a “shock” explosive device inside the residence.

After Greg was injured by the device detonating at his feet, both he and Teresa were “thrown to the floor,” court documents say.

The search turned up less than $50 of marijuana and one Lunesta pill outside of the bottle that Greg had been prescribed.

Under Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture laws, which allow law enforcement to seize any property they allege is involved in a crime, Randolph County deputies seized approximately $8,000 in cash, firearms, jewelry, and other personal items from two safes inside the Almond home, according to court documents.

Greg told Reason Magazine in 2019 that the deputies took even the money inside his wallet.

The couple was arrested that night and detained at the Randolph County Jail until the following day.

Although the couple’s 27-year-old son claimed the marijuana found at their home was his, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department continued to pursue prosecution.

Over a year later, the Almonds were indicted on unlawful possession of marijuana for personal use and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanor charges. Prior to this incident, neither Greg nor Teresa had any criminal history.

Following the raid and arrest, the Almonds lost their house and a large portion of Greg’s family land after missing a deadline to refinance loans on their farm, according to a 2019 story from Alabama Appleseed’s Leah Nelson.

Having nowhere else to go, the couple moved into a utility shed without running water, air conditioning, or indoor plumbing. They have since struggled to get back on their feet, largely due to the negative impact their arrest had on Greg’s reputation as a businessman.

“What I’ve been hearing since then is we were meth dealers and meth heads,” he told Reason in 2019.

“People we had been knowing for years would turn their head when they saw us and wouldn’t speak. It’s gotten where we avoid going to public places. It’s made me—I don’t how to put it in words—it’s made me not want to be out. It’s like people are whispering behind our backs.”

During last month’s trial, Randolph County Circuit Judge Amy Newsome testified that she had never issued any kind of warrant for the sheriffs to search the Almond home.

Newsome added that she had also not communicated anything to them over the phone that would have allowed them to act in good faith, according to court documents. In the court’s decision, U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker wrote that there was “no question” that the Almonds’ Fourth Amendment rights had been violated.

Despite their win in court, Greg previously told Reason that the trauma he and his wife endured will always have lasting effects.

“It’s made me distrust law enforcement on every level,” he said in 2019. “Going down the road I can see a police or state trooper, not that I’m doing anything wrong, and it’s kind of like my adrenaline goes up. My heart just pounds seeing them.”