It's NOT going to be raining $100 bills for a Florida man and a Texas woman after they were sentenced for making, possessing and passing counterfeit US currency.
Federal prison awaits the two convicted counterfeiters, United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced today.
Edward Christopher Deyoung, 46, of Crestview, Florida, and Antonia Esperanza Hernandez, 39, of Amarillo, Texas, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter to serve two years in prison each for conspiring to make, possess and pass counterfeit currency.They were also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Here's what happened: In March of 2019, Deyoung and Hernandez were arrested by Shreveport police following an investigation into a counterfeiting operation in the Shreveport/Bossier area.
Prior to their arrest officers identified two individuals who were using counterfeit $100 bills to make purchases at a Shreveport gas station.
The individuals told police that they obtained the counterfeit cash from a man and a woman staying at a hotel in Shreveport.
On March 12, 2019, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the hotel room where Deyoung and Hernandez were staying and found $4,000 in counterfeit bills, a fake identification with Deyoung’s picture, laptops, cellphones, paper cutters, a computer printer, and other items used to make counterfeit currency.
Officers also recovered $600 from local merchants in connection with Deyoung’s and Hernandez’s counterfeiting operation.
During their guilty plea hearing on July 2, 2019, the defendants admitted to manufacturing the counterfeit bills
The U.S. Secret Service, Shreveport/Caddo Parish White Collar Crimes Task Force and Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth D. Reeg prosecuted the case.
