Defendant Sentenced to 30 months in Prison for Counterfeiting

BOISE - Joseph Bylow, 32, of Eagle, Idaho, was sentenced today in United States District Court to 30 months in prison for counterfeiting, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.  Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge also ordered Bylow to pay restitution in the amount of $644.  Bylow pleaded guilty on November 12, 2016.

According to the plea agreement, Bylow admitted that in July and August 2015, he and a co-defendant manufactured and passed counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes to various businesses in Eagle, Boise, and Emmett, Idaho.  Initially, Bylow and his co-defendant manufactured counterfeit one dollar notes by printing images of these notes on cotton paper stock.  When officers of the Ada County Sheriff’s Office contacted Bylow and his co-defendant at their home, both admitted counterfeiting one dollar notes and passing them at various businesses.  Officers seized items including an Epson printer, cotton business paper, a paper cutter, and sheets of paper with one-dollar notes printed on them.  Shortly thereafter, Bylow and his co-defendant began manufacturing counterfeit ten and fifty dollar notes by washing or bleaching one and five dollar notes and using them as blanks to print ten and fifty dollar notes.  When a search warrant was executed on Bylow and his co-defendant’s residence, they were in possession of acetone, peroxide liquid bleach, copy paper, transparent tape, carpet cleaner, and a spray bottle—items used by Bylow and his co-defendant for manufacturing counterfeit notes.  Approximately $500 of counterfeit $5, $10, and $50 bills in various stages of production were recovered during the execution of the search warrant.  Approximately $644 of counterfeit notes in denominations of one, ten, and fifty dollars were recovered as passed by Bylow and his co-defendant.

The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, and the Boise Police Department.