KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A federal grand jury has indicted four people on charges of conspiring to bleach $5 bills to create counterfeit $100 bills that they used to purchase gift cards at Target stores in Kansas, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Court documents describe how federal investigators worked with Target security personnel who followed a cross-country trail that ended when the defendants were caught on surveillance cameras at Target stores in Johnson County, Kan.

Indicted are:

Simon McDaniel, 50, Atlanta, Ga.: One count of conspiracy, six counts of passing counterfeit currency Yancey Robertson, 26, Augusta, Ga.: One count of conspiracy, and two counts of passing counterfeit currency,
Kenya Harris, 27, Ypsilanti, Mich.: One count of conspiracy
Pernecia Brown, 19, College Park, Ga.: One count of conspiracy, eight counts of passing counterfeit currency.

The defendants initially were charged in a criminal complaint filed Sept. 29 in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. The complaint alleged that in June 2011 investigators for Target contacted the U.S. Secret Service regarding a group of individuals traveling the country passing counterfeit $100 bills at Target stores to buy gift cards or merchandise. Typically, the persons involved would purchase a $20 gift card and receive $80 in change.

The complaint alleges that Target’s surveillance cameras in the Kansas City metro area took pictures of counterfeit bills being passed at Target stores in the Kansas City Metro area.

The indictment alleges that McDaniel, Robertson, Harris and Brown conspired from May 27, 2011, to September 7, 2011, to produce and pass counterfeit bills. It alleges counterfeit bills were passed on the following dates and at the following places:

– May 27, 2011, the Target store at 15345 West 119th Street, Olathe, Kan.
– Aug. 9, 2011, the Target store at 6100 Broadmoor Street, Mission, Kansas.
– Sept. 6, 2011, the Target store at 10800 East 21st North, Wichita, Kan.
– Sept. 7, 2011, the Target store at 15700 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Shawnee, Kan.
– Sept. 7, 2011, the Target store at 15345 W. 119th Street, Olathe.
– Sept. 7, 2011, the Target store at 20255 West 154th Street, Olathe.
– Sept. 7, 2011, the Target store at 11501 West 97th Street, Overland Park, Kan.
– Sept. 7, 2011, the Target store at 12200 Blue Valley Parkway, Overland Park, Kan.

Investigators learned the conspirators were “washing” genuine $5 bills and then reprinting them as $100 bills.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the conspiracy count, and a maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each of the other counts. The U.S. Secret Service and the Overland Park Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leon Patton is prosecuting.

 

OTHER INDICTMENTS

A grand jury meeting in Kansas City, Kan., also returned the following indictments:

Jason Day, 39, Tulsa, Okla., is charged with two counts of bank robbery. The indictment alleges that on July 25, 2011, Day was carrying a handgun when he robbed the Bank of Blue Valley at 5520 Hedge Lane Terrace in Shawnee, Kan., and on Aug. 3, 2011, he was carrying a handgun when he robbed Bank Midwest at 14735 West 119th Street in Olathe, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leon Patton is prosecuting.

Rodney McIntosh, 30, an inmate at Leavenworth Penitentiary, is charged with nine counts of assaulting employees of the Bureau of Prisons. The crimes are alleged to have occurred in 2010 and 2011 in the prison.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of eight years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel is prosecuting.

Juan Lewis, 26, an inmate at Leavenworth Penitentiary, is charged with one count of assaulting an employee of the Bureau of Prisons, an one count of inflicting bodily harm during an assault on an employee of the Bureau of Prisons. The crimes are alleged to have occurred June 26, 2010, in the prison.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of eight years and a fine up to $250,000 on the assault charge, and a maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of inflicting bodily harm. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel is prosecuting.

Brent A. Drees, 43, Wichita, Kan., is charged with one count of bank robbery. The indictment alleges that on Sept. 22, 2011, he robbed the Emprise Bank at 3900 W. Central in Wichita, Kan.

He initially was charged in a criminal complaint filed Sept. 23, 2011, in U.S. District Court in Wichita.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting.

Roberto Contreras, 41, Kansas City, Kan., is charged with unlawfully re-entering the United States after being convicted of an aggravated felony and deported. He was found Aug. 29, 2011, in Overland Park, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble is prosecuting.

Jorge Cruz-Arreola, 38, is charged with unlawfully re-entering the United States after convicted of an aggravated felony and deported. He was found April 7, 2011, in Kansas City, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble is prosecuting.

In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct

 

 

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