Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Tasha Ajibogun, age 35, of Mabelton, Georgia, pled guilty today in federal court in Florence, to passing counterfeit $50.00 Federal Reserve Notes, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 472. United States District Judge Bruce H. Hendricks of Charleston, accepted the plea and will impose sentence after she has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
The evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing established that on December 4, 2014, Ajibogun entered the Dollar General Store on South Van Lingle Mungo Boulevard in Pageland where she purchased merchandise with a counterfeit $50.00 bill. The next day, on December 5, an officer with the Pageland Police Department located Ajibogun and discovered 22 additional counterfeit $50.00 bills in her possession.
Ms. Drake stated the maximum penalty the defendant can receive is imprisonment for 20 years and/or a fine of $250,000, plus a special assessment of $100.
The case was investigated by agents of the United States Secret Service and the Pageland Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Brad Parham of the Florence office handled the case.
--DOJ District of South Carolina