United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

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

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

DALLAS MAN SENTENCED TO 57 MONTHS
IN FEDERAL PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE
FOR RUNNING COUNTERFEIT CHECK SCHEME

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that Dallas resident, C.W. Griffin, Jr., age 37, was sentenced yesterday by the Honorable Ed Kinkeade, United States District Judge, to 57 months imprisonment, which is the top end of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Judge Kinkeade also ordered Griffin to pay, jointly and severally with other defendants in the case, $42,692.74 in restitution.

Griffin and others were charged with making, uttering and possessing counterfeit checks in a federal indictment which was unsealed in June 2004. Griffin pled guilty in August 2005 to one count of conspiracy to knowingly and intentionally possessing a counterfeit security of an organization with the intent to deceive another person.

Griffin was a ringleader of a group that printed and passed counterfeit checks. Griffin recruited other individuals, including many homeless and transient people, to pass the worthless checks at banks and other local businesses. The check passers received a small portion of the proceeds, while Griffin and the other leaders and “lieutenants” in the organization shared in the bulk of the profits from the criminal scheme. Griffin personally recruited at least eleven check passers.

Griffin would obtain legitimate identification cards from the check passers and would return with counterfeit checks made out to them. Griffin then transported the check passers to banks and other businesses to cash the checks.

There were 26 defendants named in the indictment; many of the defendants have pled guilty and have been sentenced.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Penley.

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