A 76-year-old Illinois businessman chose a unique way to pay a part of a court-ordered insurance amount; he made the payment in quarters, 4 tons worth $150,000 packed in dozens of bags.
Roger Herrin of Harrisburg was ordered by the court to repay $500,000 insurance money he received after his 15-year-old son died in a car accident in 2001. The outraged businessman chose to abide by the court's law but in his own way by paying a part of the sum in quarters. He delivered nearly 4 tons of quarters worth $150,000 to a Marion law firm Wednesday.
Herrin's son, Micheal, died in a car accident June 14, 2001, which also injured three other fellow riders, Jared Head, Ross Duncan, and Katherine Duncan. A truck rammed in to the Jeep Cherokee blowing up a stop sign near Raleigh in southern Illinois' Saline County. Herrin initially got $600,000 of the $800,000 in insurance and an additional $1.65 million in compensation from his personal coverage. A legal battle broke out when the distribution of the insurance amount was appealed. The Mount Vernon, Illinois-based 5th District Appellate Court ruled the case against Herrin, and he had to repay most of the amount he received from insurance, according to Associated Press.
In protest against the court's ruling, Herrin obtained $150,000 worth quarters from the Federal Reserve in St. Louis, packed in 150 transparent bags. Each bag contained $1,000 in quarters, weighing about 50 pounds, AP reports.
No protest can compensate the loss of a child, Herrin told AP Thursday.
"I just wanted to draw attention to what went on here," the 76-year-old man said. "I really wanted to do it in pennies."