Four Florence County Residents Plead Guilty in Federal Court to Manufacturing and Passing Counterfeit Money

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Shadrick Jarmarcus Jett, age 26, Joel Ray Cain, Jr., age 25, Gary Jerome Smart, age 26, all of Florence, SC, and Christopher Jamall Moody, age 27, of Effingham, SC, pled guilty in federal court in Florence, South Carolina.  Jett, Cain, and Smart pled guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and pass counterfeit money, and Moody pled guilty to conspiracy to pass counterfeit money, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.  United States District Judge Bryan Harwell, of Florence, accepted the pleas and will impose sentences after he has reviewed the presentence reports which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

The evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing established that these four defendants were involved in a conspiracy to manufacture and pass counterfeit $100 and $50 bills in multiple states including South Carolina and North Carolina.  This conspiracy, which began in 2015, included at least nine codefendants who were responsible for making and passing over $100,000 in counterfeit money. 

Jett, Cain and Smart were involved in manufacturing counterfeit at multiple locations, including residences in Florence, SC.  In fact, during a search of Cain’s Florence residence agents seized an Epson printer and a genuine $100 “parent note”, both of which belonged to Cain and were used to print counterfeit $100 bills.  Jett was also found in possession of a genuine $100 “parent note” used to print counterfeit $100 bills when his car was stopped and searched by the Florence County Sheriff’s Office after a short chase.  During the search of Jett’s car, deputies found the genuine parent note along with eleven completed counterfeit $100 bills and over 450 uncut partial images of counterfeit $100 bills all bearing the same serial number as the recovered parent note.  Secret Service determined that 230 counterfeit $100 bills bearing this same serial number were passed beginning in June of 2017.     

All four defendants also passed counterfeit $100 bills at various locations in South Carolina and North Carolina during 2016 and 2017.  Cain passed a counterfeit $100 bill at a business in Easley, South Carolina.  He also passed counterfeit $100 bills at businesses in Greensboro and Lenoir, North Carolina.  Smart passed counterfeit $100 bills at businesses in Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina.  Jett passed a counterfeit $100 bill in Concord, North Carolina.  In March of 2017, Christopher Moody presented a counterfeit $100 bill to an employee of a business in Troy, North Carolina, after which he was arrested and found in possession of additional counterfeit $100 bills bearing serial numbers matching those of counterfeit bills passed by other codefendants in this case.    

Ms. Drake stated the maximum penalty these four defendants can receive is imprisonment for 5 years and a fine of $250,000.00. 

The case was investigated by agents of United States Secret Service with the assistance of the Florence County Sheriff’s Office and the Florence Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office is prosecuting the case.

#####