RENO, Nev. – A California woman pleaded guilty today to making counterfeit $100 bills and spending the money at businesses in Northern Nevada, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden for the District of Nevada. She faces the statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for June 5, 2017, before U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du.
“It is a federal crime to make, forge, alter or counterfeit a Federal Reserve Note,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “Individuals who make counterfeit currency are attempting to cheat and cause damage to businesses and the U.S. economy. We will continue to protect the U.S. economy and seek prosecution of individuals who engage in counterfeiting currency.”
Yvonne Geneal Flores, 38, of Sacramento, Calif., was indicted on May 25, 2016. Co-defendant Thomas Michael Morla, 42, pleaded guilty to making counterfeit currency and was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison.
According to the plea agreement and court documents, from Oct. 7, 2015 to May 5, 2016, Flores and Morla manufactured and passed numerous counterfeit $100 bills at various businesses in Reno, Carson City, and Sparks. Law enforcement were alerted to the counterfeit bills after Hertz Rental Car filed a report about Morla in possession of an embezzled Mercedes in Carson City. At the time of his arrest, he was holding counterfeit money. Flores’s name was listed as one of the drivers on the Hertz rental contract and she too was arrested for possession of an embezzled vehicle. During the execution of a search warrant, law enforcement found over $6,000 in counterfeit bills, a laptop computer, scanner/printer, and other items Flores and Morla used to manufacture the counterfeit currency. The U.S. Secret Service has collected nearly $50,000 counterfeit $100 bills from businesses that can be attributed to Flores and Morla based on the similarities of the notes and the use of the same face and back plate numbers,
and check letter/quadrant numbers.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service; and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian L. Sullivan.
--DOJ District of Nevada