Eagle River Counterfeiters Sentenced

Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that two Eagle River residents were sentenced in federal court in Anchorage for conspiring to manufacture and pass counterfeit money at local businesses in Eagle River.

Matthew Daley, 29, and Christa Speiser, 30, were sentenced on October 1, by United States District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess.  Daley was sentenced to a year in prison and Speiser received probation.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Aunnie Steward, Daley and Speiser were manufacturing counterfeit $100 bills that they were passing at local businesses including Tesoro, Walmart, and Carrs, as well as others in the Eagle River area.

Over the course of three days Daley and Speiser passed counterfeit $100 bills at local businesses purchasing small items and receiving genuine currency in return.  They were stopped when a Tesoro employee recognized a $100 bill as fake and called APD.  Daley and Speiser left the Tesoro but were contacted nearby on a routine traffic stop.  The officer conducting the traffic stop heard the call over the radio regarding the attempted passing of counterfeit money at Tesoro and recognized Daley and Speiser as the suspects described in the incident.  Daley also had a pending warrant for his arrest on a separate matter.  Daley lied to the officer about his identity and tried to escape from the officer’s vehicle when he was taken into custody.  Several more counterfeit bills were found in their car and in Speiser’s wallet.  A search of the trailer where Daley and Speiser were staying by APD and the U.S. Secret Service established that Daley had set up a system of manufacturing the counterfeit money that he and Speiser had been passing at local businesses.

Ms. Loeffler commends the Anchorage Police Department and the Secret Service for the investigation of this case.