A businesswoman has been cleared of drug dealing after telling a jury that cash hidden under her bed came from selling ice cream.
Kiosk operator Tiffany Leach was also found not guilty of money laundering at Exeter Crown Court and will now be able to get the thousands of pounds returned to her.
Her boyfriend Kenneth Lecomber was also acquitted but both were found guilty of simple possession of cannabis and fined.
Leach, aged 42, had always insisted she was not involved in either taking or selling cannabis but Lecomber said he was a heavy used and two bags of the drug found in a safe were for his own use.
The couple were both arrested at Leach's home in Exeter when the 15 grams of cannabis were seized from her safe and digital scales and ziplock bags found.
Around £5,000 in cash was found in Tupperware boxes under Leach's bed and another £12,000 hidden under a drawer in her bedside cabinet.
She told the jury she knew nothing about the drugs and that Lecomber had a key to the safe. She said the cash under the bed was from her ice cream kiosk business.
She explained she had digital scales and ziplock bags because she also ran a sideline selling antique jewellery, which she needed to weigh and pack.
Lecomber said the cannabis in the safe was for his own use and the £12,000 in the cabinet was savings from a personal injury claim dating back to when he worked as a bricklayer.
Leach, of Kings Road, Exeter, and Lecomber, aged 48, from Winchester, both denied possession of cannabis with intent to supply and possession of £17,563 as proceeds of crime.
They were cleared of both counts but both found guilty of possessing cannabis. Leach had already admitted possession of four ecstasy tablets found in her bedroom.
Leach was fined a total of £480 with £500 costs. Lecomber was fined £150 with £145 costs by Recorder Mr Howard Palmer.
He told them:"Lecomber, you have an appalling record of using and possessing cannabis and other anti social offences.
"I accept Miss Leach you were not a user of cannabis but were aware your premises were being used to keep it. I consider the possession of ecstasy to be the more serious offence.
"Taking into account your good character but this is a very dangerous drug which you had lying about at your home and therefore presented a danger to visitors."
During a three day hearing, the jury were told police searched Leach's home in November 2012 and found 7.03 grams of cannabis bud and 8.59 grams of resin in a safe in her bedroom.
The also found the money, the scales, and plastic bags.
Leach insisted from the outset she was not involved in cannabis but the ecstasy tablets were left over from when she used to take the drug at parties several years earlier.
She the money was the float for her ice cream business and nothing to do with drugs.
Lecomber told the jury he had been in a relationship with Leach for a few years and spent a couple of nights a week with her in Exeter, commuting from his home by motorbike.
He said he was a widower who lost faith in banks when his wife died of cancer in 2006 and he was unable to access the £900 left in her account.
He told the jury he had been a bricklayer until 2005 or 2006 but had lived on benefits ever since and his only luxury was cannabis, on which he spent around £50 a week.
He said the cash in the drawer came from a compensation payment for an accident at work which he had taken out of the bank and never spent and which he hid at Leach's home for safe keeping.
