Jacksonville Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Manufacturing And Possessing Counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Maria Morales Howard has sentenced James Edward Langford, IV (30, Jacksonville) to 33 months in federal prison for manufacturing and possessing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes.

According to court documents, in late July 2017, law enforcement officers received information that Langford was manufacturing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes at a hotel in Jacksonville. On July 25, 2017, U.S. Secret Service agents surveilled the hotel room and observed Langford and two others leave the room. Langford and one of the individuals discarded full trash bags by the hotel’s trash area. A search of the bags revealed several uncut sheets of wadded paper with printed images of counterfeit $20 bills.

Later that day, agents observed Langford leave the room and exit the hotel parking lot. Surveillance teams observed him driving erratically, cutting across three lanes of traffic, speeding, and entering an intersection and then making a sudden U-turn. Law enforcement initiated a traffic stop and, during a search of Langford, multiple counterfeit $20 Federal Reserve notes were recovered from Langford’s wallet. A subsequent search of Langford’s hotel room revealed numerous counterfeit notes and the computer media used to manufacture them, along with chemicals commonly used to remove the ink from genuine bills during the counterfeiting process.  

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service - Jacksonville Field Office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.