Michele Sergeant, Counterfeit $100 Bills, New York 2013

A Queens woman has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for her role in a sophisticated counterfeiting operation that spanned multiple states.

Michele Sergeant, 31, of Queens, NY, was convicted of possession of counterfeit bank notes and ordered to pay $44,700 in restitution by U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci. The defendant was also sentenced to 18 months in prison.

The investigation began on September 22, 2013, when New York State Troopers stopped a vehicle on Interstate 390 in the town of Wayland in Steuben County for going 102 mph in a 65 mph zone. Inside the vehicle, troopers found Sergeant and her co-defendant, along with a small quantity of marijuana. Troopers located $8,700 in $100 bank notes inside the car along with a financial ledger book.

Secret Service Agents determined that 87 of the $100 bills recovered were actually sophisticated counterfeit bills, complete with water marks, color shifting ink, and embedded security strips. They further determined that the ledger notations were references to stores at which they passed counterfeit currency and included Home Depot, Lowes, Target, and Wal-Mart stores.

As part of the investigation, Secret Service Agents reviewed store surveillance video from the dates and times of the transactions listed in the ledger. The defendant was identified on video at several area stores passing counterfeit $100 bank notes. Subsequent investigation determined that Sergeant had passed thousands of dollars’ worth of counterfeit $100 bank notes within the Western District of New York.

The total loss due to the defendant’s actions was over $65,000. The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the United States Secret Service and Investigators and Troopers of the New York State Police.

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