Doing the right thing often has its own rewards — but you may need to get a lawyer, first. That’s what one Minnesota waitress learned the hard way.

Back in November, Stacy Knutson, a server at Fryn’ Pan Restaurant in the town of Moorhead found someone had left $12,000 in cash on one of her tables. Stacy assumed the person had left it by mistake, so she turned it in to police. At that point, she was told that if no one claimed it within 60 days, it belonged to her.

Those two months came and went, but Knutson then learned she wouldn’t be getting the money because it allegedly smelled like marijuana and had thus been seized under state law. Although she was offered a $1,000 reward for turning it in, she refused and filed suit.

Authorities have since had a change of heart and decided to return the cash to her after all. Knutson’s attorney, Craig Richie, said several members of the community knew his client’s family was facing considerable financial hardships, so he believes the money was left as a gift.

And as for the pot smell?

“We argued that most money that you carry in your pocket has drug residue on it,” Richie said. “She could’ve kept the money and nobody would’ve known. But she said, ‘No, I’m going to do the right thing.’ So she called police and now integrity has now prevailed.”

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