NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Julia C. Dudley United States Attorney Brian McGinn Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2974 FAX (540) 857-2179 |
June 9, 2009
TRIO PLEADS GUILTY TO MAKING COUNTERFEIT BILLS
Melinda Crabtree, William Ison and Kenneth Diets Admit to Making Fake Bills To Feed Drug Habit
United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley announced today that Melinda Susan Crabtree, age 33, William Schylder Ison, age 20 and Kenneth Paul Diets, age 29, all of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Big Stone Gap to charges related to a conspiracy to make and pass counterfeit United States obligations.
In March, a federal grand jury charged all three defendants with one count of conspiring to counterfeit United States currency, one count of manufacturing counterfeit currency and one count of passing counterfeit currency.
Today in District Court, each defendant pled guilty to one count of conspiring to make and pass counterfeit United States obligations. Crabtree, Diets and Ison each face a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.
The defendants admitted today that on February 10, 2009 they manufactured counterfeit United States currency using a printer and scanner at a Big Stone Gap residence. The following day, February 11, 2009, Crabtree attempted to purchase Suboxone from Kingsport Family Recovery Associates in Kingsport, Tennessee, using a counterfeit $100 bill.
Earlier that same day, Ison gave an unnamed witness a $100 counterfeit bill as payment for a ride for himself and Crabtree to Kingsport, Tennessee. He received $75 in authentic currency from this person. Also on February 11, 2009, Diets attempted to pass, and did pass, a counterfeit $20 bill at a gas station in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.
The investigation of the case was conducted by United States Secret Service, the Big Stone Gap Police Department, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office and the Wise City Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Bockhorst is prosecuting the case for the United States.