DAYTON, OH – Ethan Stopkotte, a career criminal from Unionville, Indiana, is headed back to federal prison after a brazen attempt to pass counterfeit $20 bills at a Dayton Dragons minor league baseball game. The 30-year-old was sentenced to 26 months behind bars after pleading guilty in May 2018, a punishment handed down by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose.
This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. According to court documents, Stopkotte purchased over 200 fake $20 bills on the dark web while already on supervised release for a prior federal conviction. He’d already tested the waters, using some of the counterfeit currency at a sporting event in Arizona before bringing the scheme to Dayton. On April 2018, he traveled to Dayton and began spending the fake money on everything from his game ticket to food and drinks.
The Secret Service, working with the Dayton Police Department, quickly caught on. Stopkotte managed to successfully exchange 41 counterfeit bills for genuine currency before investigators approached him. In a pathetic attempt to hide the evidence, Stopkotte tried to stash 54 more fake bills under a stadium refrigerator. The search didn’t stop there. Law enforcement found $166 in real money stuffed into the sole of his shoe and more hidden within his clothing.
The investigation extended beyond the ballpark. A search of Stopkotte’s Unionville, Indiana residence uncovered an additional 136 counterfeit $20 bills hidden inside the cover of a boat. His iPhone revealed a history of searches related to counterfeiting techniques and further dark web research, painting a clear picture of premeditation and a deliberate attempt to defraud.
This latest conviction isn’t Stopkotte’s first brush with the law. In 2014, he received a federal sentence in the Middle District of Tennessee for stealing over $66,000 by pilfering donation checks from church mailboxes. He was still on supervised release from that sentence when he embarked on this latest counterfeiting scheme. U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman and Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Yvonne DiCristoforo praised the collaborative investigation.
As part of the sentence, Stopkotte will forfeit the 231 counterfeit $20 bills, his iPhone, and the nearly $495 in genuine currency seized during his arrest. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, led by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel, intends to ensure that Stopkotte’s pattern of criminal behavior is finally brought to a halt. This case serves as a reminder that the Secret Service and local law enforcement are actively working to combat financial crimes, even at the ballpark.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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