A California woman pleaded guilty yesterday to her role in a counterfeit savings bond scheme.
According to court documents, Summer Marie Creech, 45, of Fontana, conspired with others to create, pass, and transfer counterfeit Department of the Treasury Series I savings bonds at financial institutions in the Southern District of Texas and elsewhere. Creech forged counterfeit Series I savings bonds using genuine bond numbers and then sent them to her co-conspirators, who negotiated them at financial institutions and shared the profits with Creech. To pass the counterfeit bonds, the co-conspirators used means of identification belonging to others without their knowledge or consent. During the conspiracy, Creech and others passed over $1.6 million in counterfeit Series I savings bonds.
Creech pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make, pass, and transfer counterfeit U.S. securities and passing counterfeit U.S. securities. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
One of Creech’s co-conspirators, Daniel Alan Lewis, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make, pass, and transfer counterfeit U.S. securities and passing counterfeit U.S. securities. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 12.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas, and Special Agent in Charge Craig S. Larrabee of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made the announcement.
HSI Rio Grande Valley Office is investigating the case, with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service, Department of the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Trial Attorney David D. Hamstra of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edgardo J. Rodriguez for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.