BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Federal prosecutors are seeking to take permanent possession of $358,955 seized from a vehicle stopped after having been clocked going more than 100 mph along an interstate in west Alabama this past summer.

At first the driver told officers he didn't know anything about the bundles of cash in his trunk. But his lawyer now says he will fight to get the money back.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Smith Murnahan on Monday filed a civil complaint in federal court in Birmingham asking that the cash be forfeited to the U.S. Government.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized the cash after they were called to the scene of a July 3, 2014 traffic stop along Interstate 20/59 in Greene County, according to the complaint.

Deputies with the Greene County Sheriff's Office had stopped a 2011 Hyundai Sonata traveling southwest bound at 114 mph near the 36 mile-marker on Interstate 20/59, according to the complaint. The car was traveling in a 70 mph zone.

Ivan Francisco Servin, 36, of El Paso, the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, told deputies he was trying to get home for the holiday, according to the complaint. The vehicle was registered to Maria C. Solis, in El Paso, Texas.

While issuing Servin a citation for the speed offense, a sheriff's lieutenant noted that Servin seemed nervous, according to the complaint.

After releasing Servin, the lieutenant asked Servin if there was anything illegal in his vehicle. The lieutenant Rancher then asked Servin's consent to search the vehicle, which Servin refused.

An Alabama State Trooper arrived and deployed his trained and certified narcotics detection K-9, Ringo, to sniff around the vehicle, according to the complaint.

"During Ringo's open air sniff, Ringo alerted to the presence of a narcotic odor emitting from Servin's vehicle," according to the complaint. Based on Ringo's alert, the sheriff's lieutenant and trooper conducted a probable cause search of Servin's vehicle.

The officers found a black "Bagmax" duffle bag in the trunk containing 18 bundles of cash. Each bundle was wrapped in cellophane and axle grease, and concealed underneath assorted clothing inside the bag, according to the complaint. The cash included 16,349 $20 bills.

Officers also found a small package containing a one dollar bill and white powdery substance, which field tested positive for cocaine, according to the complaint.

The officer arrested Servin and charged him with Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance. He also was issued two traffic citations, speeding, and having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.

Servin told the lieutenant and trooper that the bag wasn't his and he did not know anything about a bag being in the trunk of the vehicle. Later, Servin declined to talk to two DEA Task Force officers who arrived at the scene, the complaint states.

Servin has previously been subject to a currency seizure in Albany, Georgia, in 2004. In that incident, $7,781 was seized as suspected drug proceeds, according to the complaint.

Servin refused to sign the receipt for the cash, which is now in the custody of the United States Marshals Service stored in a secure location, according to the complaint.

Servin , who was born and raised in Texas, pleaded guilty in October to the Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance and was sentenced to a two-year split sentence with 90 days to serve in jail, according to court records. Because Servin also was awarded jail credit and he had been in jail since his arrest, he was immediately released.

A judge also ordered Servin to pay a $1,000 fine, plus another fine for the speeding ticket. The open container traffic violation was dismissed.

David Shaw, the Eutaw attorney representing Servin, said that Servin denies the money is from drug proceeds and will oppose the forfeiture of the money to the federal government. "We're planning on contesting it," he said.