Plymouth Man Sentenced for Selling Counterfeit Currency

A 28-year-old Plymouth man was sentenced today in federal court in St. Paul for selling 153 counterfeit $20 bills. United States District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank sentenced Jeffery Cardell Rogers to 23 months in prison on one count of selling counterfeit obligations of the U.S., with intent to defraud. Rogers was indicted on August 18, 2009, and pleaded guilty on November 4, 2009.

Following today’s sentence, John Kirkwood, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Minneapolis Division, said, “Today’s sentence of Mr. Rogers represents the consequences of knowingly passing counterfeit currency and the serious financial impact such a crime creates. Although commonly considered just a crime against the government, the truth is manufacturing and passing counterfeit money is no different than any other type of theft or fraud and is a community-impact crime. It almost always impacts local retailers, banks, and private individuals, not the federal government.”

In his plea agreement, Rogers admitted that at 11 a.m. on November 22, 2005, he sold the bills from his car, while parked at a gas station in Columbia Heights. He also admitted he knew the bills were counterfeit and would end up in circulation, thereby defrauding third parties.

This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.