Kai D. Bowers, Counterfeit U.S. Currency Conspiracy, MO 2017

A Missouri man has admitted to a scheme to flood Illinois and Missouri towns with fake $100 bills, pleading guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and pass counterfeit U.S. currency. Kai D. Bowers, 22, of Florissant, Missouri, entered his guilty plea on January 18, 2017, in United States District Court, facing up to five years behind bars and a $250,000 fine.

Bowers admitted in court that in September 2015, he joined forces with Dion Price and others to produce counterfeit bills and move them through Alton, Illinois, and St. Charles, Missouri. The operation wasn’t amateur hour—these weren’t crumpled fakes tossed at gas stations. They were deliberate, calculated strikes on local commerce, designed to slip through the cracks until investigators clamped down.

Dion Price, Bowers’ co-conspirator, already pleaded guilty to the same charge on October 5, 2016, and is set for sentencing on February 10, 2017, in East St. Louis federal court. Authorities are treating the case as part of a broader pattern of cross-state financial crime, with both men using the border between Missouri and Illinois as cover for their operations.

Bowers is scheduled for sentencing on May 5, 2017, in the same East St. Louis courthouse. When that day comes, he could be sentenced to up to five years in federal prison, slapped with a $250,000 fine, or both. On top of that, he’ll face up to three years of supervised release—if he thinks this case ends when he walks out of court, he’s dead wrong.

The bust was the result of a joint investigation by the Alton, Illinois Police Department and the St. Charles, Missouri Police Department—local boots on the ground who caught the scent of counterfeit bills circulating in small businesses. Their collaboration peeled back the layers of an operation that relied on quick drops and cash-heavy transactions to stay off the radar.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ranley R. Killian, who’s made no secret of his intent to crack down on financial fraud in the Southern District. For Bowers and Price, the cost of trying to game the system may soon come due—in handcuffs, court dates, and a permanent federal record.