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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Jan. 25, 2008
THREE MEN FROM MEXICO CHARGED WITH PASSING COUNTERFEIT $100 BILLS
WICHITA, KAN. – Three men who entered the United States illegally from Mexico were charged in federal court Friday with passing counterfeit $100 bills.
Camilo Lopez-Correl, 39, Adrien Estrada-Rosales, 23, and Johnny Varay Moreno, 22, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita with passing counterfeit $100 bills.
“Based on the serial numbers, it appears that the defendants passed more than $9,000 in counterfeit currency in recent weeks in California, Texas, Idaho, New Mexico and Kansas,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren.
The men were arrested the evening of Jan. 11, 2008, at the Wal-Mart in Newton, Kan. According to an investigator’s affidavit, store surveillance tapes showed two of the men – Estrada-Rosales and Lopez-Correl – passing counterfeit $100 bills in the Wal-Mart on Jan. 10 and again on Jan. 11. The tapes showed the men leaving the store in a green Saturn with a temporary registration tag in the rear window.
On the evening of Jan. 11, the two returned to the Wal-Mart a third time and were arrested while attempting to pass two more counterfeit $100 bills. The third man – Moreno – was arrested in a room the men shared at the Best Western Red Coach Inn in Newton. Investigators found counterfeit government identification documents, stolen commercial checks and a typewriter in the room.
If convicted, the men face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Newton Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson is prosecuting.
As in any criminal case, a person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The charges filed merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.
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