That’s what he told law enforcement in Sonoma County, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, after he was pulled over outside Santa Rosa with $100,000 cash in his car last week.

Deputies with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office pulled over Ross Thursday evening, after he allegedly made an unsafe lane change. After a police dog indicated that it smelled marijuana, the deputy searched the car — finding the money, but no drugs. Ross said that he was using the cash to “negotiate the purchase of some property near Fortuna,” the Chron reports.

The deputy didn’t buy it. Ross appeared in Sonoma County court today to defend himself against charges of possessing drug money. His case was continued to December.

In the 1980s, Ross became a key figure in the distribution of crack cocaine in Los Angeles and throughout the United States. He imported tons of the product through his connection with Nicaraguan emigres who had ties with the right-wing Contra movement. 

Ross’s role in the crack trade became widely known in 1996, after San Jose Mercury-News reporter Gary Webb published his “Dark Alliance” series, which linked — or attempted to link — Ross’s story with the Iran-Contra affair.

Since he was released from prison in 2009, Ross has been a motivational speaker and has written an autobiography. He told law enforcement that the money found in his car last week were proceeds from these legitimate businesses.

In last year’s feature film Kill The Messenger, Ross was played by actor Michael K. Williams, best known for his roles as Omar Little on The Wire and Chalky White on Boardwalk Empire.