United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

U.S. Secret Service Agents Arrest Numerous Locals in Sweep

Agency Reports Counterfeiting on the Rise in Dallas Area

Mark L. Lowery, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service Dallas Field Office, and Richard B. Roper, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, announced today that U.S. Secret Service agents arrested numerous individuals during a two-week round-up of defendants charged with federal counterfeiting violations.

“Counterfeiting of United States currency is a serious matter and has a negative financial impact on neighborhood business and shop owners,” said Special Agent in Charge Lowery. “Counterfeiting of United States currency has been a core investigative responsibility of the Secret Service for 140 years and we continue to enthusiastically pursue counterfeiters. Partly based upon the advancement of technology, the counterfeiting of financial documents such as U.S. currency has become easier and more prolific,” Lowery continued.

Special Agent in Charge Lowery went on to note, “Hopefully these arrests will send a message to would-be counterfeiters --- if you choose to counterfeit United States currency or other financial documents, the Secret Service will aggressively investigate and arrest violators and they will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s office.”

According to statistics provided by the U.S. Secret Service, Dallas District, there has been a significant increase in counterfeiting of United States currency over the past three years. Secret Service statistics show passed or seized counterfeit currency increased 100% from $706,000 in 2003 to $1,417,000 in 2005 in the Dallas District. U.S. Secret Service anticipates these arrests will have significant impact on this trend.
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The defendants charged are from the local Dallas - Fort Worth area as well as Wichita Falls, Weatherford and Austin, Texas. All are charged with various counterfeiting crimes including conspiracy, manufacturing of counterfeit securities/obligations, possession of counterfeit securities/obligations, dealing in counterfeit securities/obligations, and uttering and passing a counterfeit obligation. Each of the counterfeiting charges carries a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine and each conspiracy charge carries a maximum statutory sentence of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Roper said, “The success of this operation is the result of the positive relationship between federal, state and local law enforcement. This office takes counterfeiting very seriously and we will use all our law enforcement resources to prosecute anyone who violates our counterfeiting laws. Would-be counterfeiters should take heed --- counterfeiting U.S. money can land you in federal prison for a long, long time.”

The following defendants have been charged in federal indictments recently returned in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, and have either been arrested or have surrendered to federal authorities:

• Nicholas Vondieter Zenk, age 32, of River Oaks, Texas
• Clyde Wesley Stringer, age 56, of Haltom City, Texas
• Clayton Dale Elliott, age 41, of Haltom City, Texas
• Joshua David Journeay, age 27, of Crowley, Texas
• Cameron Blair Primm, age 34, of Arlington, Texas
• Edward Lee Allmon, age 34, of Fort Worth, Texas
• Robyn Gable, age 42, of Arlington, Texas
• John W. Howard, age 21, of Irving, Texas
• DeShea Hawkins, age 24, of Dallas, Texas
• Patrick Roland Grogan, age 39, of Gun Barrel City, Texas
• Joseph Michael DePriest, age 20, of Wichita Falls, Texas
• Tina Marie DePriest, age 39, of Wichita Falls, Texas
• Misty Nicole Holley, age 25, of Wichita Falls, Texas
• Joseph Baumgardner, age 25, of Dallas, Texas
• Andrew Bakas, age 28, of Hurst, Texas
• Nicole Vargas, age 34, of Hurst, Texas
• Christopher Charles Bynum, age 29, of Dallas, Texas
• Mark Edward Owens, age 29, of Dallas, Texas
• Tommy Kirk Markham, age 39, of Austin, Texas
• Christopher Anthony Moore, age 37, of Dallas, Texas
• Cynthia Gale Kuykendall, age 34, of The Colony, Texas
• Shannette Maxine Francis, age 25, of Addison, Texas
• Jason Lyn Smith, age 25, of Addison, Texas
• Jennifer Turner, age 28, of Weatherford, Texas

In addition, Phillip Mark Decker, age 45, of Runaway Bay, Texas, pled guilty two weeks ago, on May 12, 2006, to one count of passing counterfeit U.S. Federal Reserve Notes, and faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on August 25, 2006 by the Honorable John McBryde, United States District Judge. Decker admitted that from December 2005 through February 2006, he had passed counterfeit $100 bills at Kohls Department Store and Academy Sporting Goods Store in North Richland Hills, Texas, and at an O’Reilley Auto Parts Store in Arlington, Texas. Decker also admitted that he had been manufacturing counterfeit currency for between 18 months and two years and had passed some of the currency himself and sold some of it for twenty percent of face value. In March 2006 Secret Service agents recovered approximately $17,000 of the counterfeit notes from a storage warehouse in Bedford, Texas.

Another defendant, John Christopher Welch, age 38, of Dallas has signed plea papers which were filed last week in federal court in Dallas. In those court documents, Welch pleads guilty to conspiracy to possess falsely made and counterfeited obligations/securities of the United States. He is scheduled to enter his guilty plea before a United States Magistrate Judge on June 6, 2006. Welch admitted that he conspired with co-defendant Patrick Roland Grogan to manufacture counterfeit U.S. currency. Grogan was arrested last week by Secret Service agents.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.

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