Vermilion County Man Sentenced to Five and a Half Years in Prison for Counterfeiting and Violating Supervised Release

URBANA, Ill. – A Bismarck, Illinois, man, Jacob R. Kirkley, 48, was sentenced on May 2, 2025, to four years in prison for his second federal counterfeiting conviction, as well as an additional 18 months in prison for violating his federal supervised release, which was imposed following his first counterfeiting conviction. When Kirkley completes his combined five-and-a-half year sentence, he will be required to serve three years of federal supervised release.

The sentences followed a trial last December in Urbana where a federal jury convicted Kirkley of manufacturing, selling, and possessing counterfeited United States currency. During two days of trial testimony, the government presented evidence to establish that, on December 7, 2023, Kirkley sold an undercover officer with the Illinois State Police $1000 of counterfeited U.S. currency that he had made for $250. On December 13, 2023, and January 8, 2024, Kirkley sold the same undercover officer another $1000 and $5000 in counterfeit U.S. currency that he had made, respectively. On January 11, 2024, agents of the U.S. States Secret Service and Vermilion County Metropolitan Enforcement Group executed a federal search warrant at Kirkley’s residence in Bismarck and recovered additional counterfeit currency, as well as various items used to counterfeit the currency.

At the time Kirkley committed those offenses, he was on federal supervised release for a previous federal counterfeiting conviction. In 2022, Kirkley was convicted of one count of manufacturing U.S. currency and two counts of passing U.S. currency after a 2020 incident where a Vermilion County Sheriff’s Deputy found over $20,000 of counterfeit U.S. currency in his truck and then learned Kirkley had passed counterfeit currency at Carnaghi’s Towing and McDonald’s in Danville, Illinois, and Dollar General in Tilton, Illinois. At the time, the Deputy also found over $20,000 counterfeit U.S. currency, plus four printers, a paper cutter, and numerous counterfeit-making implements in Kirkley’s hotel room at the Budget Inn in Danville. Kirkley served 27 months in federal prison for those offenses and was serving a three-year term of federal supervised release at the time that he committed his latest counterfeiting offenses. Kirkley was released from federal prison in May 2023, six months before committing these offenses.   

At the time of sentencing, the government presented evidence that Kirkley violated his federal supervised release not only by committing a new counterfeiting offense, but also by testing positive for methamphetamine use on eight separate occasions. The government also presented evidence that Kirkley had told the undercover officer during a covertly recorded conversation that “my name’s a red flag for any kind of . . . counterfeit material at all,” that he learned how to use “Bible paper” to counterfeit currency when he was in federal prison the first time, and that he believed he would “be screwed” and would have “the book” thrown at him if he were caught counterfeiting again.

Also at the hearing, U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce found that Kirkley had not accepted responsibility for his criminal conduct. Judge Bruce followed the government’s recommendation to impose a sentence above the range recommended by the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines because Judge Bruce was troubled by Kirkley committing his offense while on federal supervised release for the same crime and so soon after being released from federal prison.

The maximum statutory penalties for each of Kirkley’s five counts of conviction are up to twenty years of imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for Kirkley’s violation of his conditions of supervised release is up to two years of imprisonment.

“Counterfeiting offenses undermine the integrity and stability of our financial system and leave hardworking business owners who receive these false payments in the lurch,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois Gregory M. Gilmore. “Repeat offenses are particularly problematic. We are grateful to our federal and local law enforcement partners for their dedicated investigative work.”

“Protecting the nation’s currency and financial infrastructure have long been key missions for the U.S. Secret Service, along with safeguarding our country’s leaders,” said Resident Agent in Charge Michael Kurzeja, of the U.S. Secret Service Springfield Resident Office. “The Secret Service goes to extraordinary lengths to detect, investigate, and stop those who manufacture and try to profit from counterfeit currency, and attempt to weaken the nation’s financial infrastructure. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of Illinois, as well as all our local partners who helped in this case.”

“The impact of counterfeiting can be widespread with the potential of hurting both businesses and individuals as false currency circulates,” said Illinois State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly. “ISP will continue to work with our law enforcement partners at all levels to help protect the integrity of our U.S. currency and hold those who break the law accountable.”

The case investigation was conducted by the Springfield Division of the United States Secret Service, Vermilion County Metropolitan Enforcement Group, and Illinois State Police. Supervisory Assistant United States Attorney Eugene L. Miller represented the government at trial.