New York Man Pleads Guilty To Manufacturing And Passing Counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Marcos Rogelio Blake (24, New York) has pleaded guilty to manufacturing and passing counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes (FRN), and possessing counterfeit business checks. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the manufacturing and possession charge and for the possession charge, and up to 10 years in federal prison for the counterfeit check charge. Blake has also agreed to forfeit the monetary proceeds he obtained by passing of the counterfeit notes, as well as the computer media he used to manufacture them. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, in January 2015, Blake and his co-defendants, Ralph Darel Lipsey and Leon White, passed or attempted to pass counterfeit FRNs at multiple businesses in Nassau County. Law enforcement officers subsequently issued an alert for the three individuals’ vehicle. On January 17, 2015, a deputy from the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office stopped the vehicle with the three men inside. Blake, who was driving the vehicle, was detained due to a suspended license. During a search, the deputy found genuine and counterfeit FRNs on Blake. An inventory search of the vehicle yielded additional counterfeit notes, two bags, and a lock box. A search of one bag belonging to Blake revealed counterfeit business checks, including two that were made out to him. The lock box contained a multi-function printer and supplies used to manufacture counterfeit FRNs.

Co-defendants Lipsey and White are scheduled for trial on November 2, 2015.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of one or more federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Secret Service, Jacksonville Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.