In March of 2019, Deyoung and Hernandez were arrested by Shreveport police following an investigation into a counterfeiting operation in the Shreveport/Bossier area. Prior to their arrest officers identified two individuals who were using counterfeit $100 bills to make purchases at a Shreveport gas station. The individuals told police that they obtained the counterfeit cash from a man and a woman staying at a hotel in Shreveport. On March 12, 2019, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the hotel room where Deyoung and Hernandez were staying, and found $4,000 in counterfeit bills, a fake identification with Deyoung’s picture, laptops, cellphones, paper cutters, a computer printer, and other items used to make counterfeit currency. Officers also recovered $600 from local merchants in connection with Deyoung’s and Hernandez’s counterfeiting operation. During their guilty plea hearing on July 2, 2019, the defendants admitted to manufacturing the counterfeit bills.
The U.S. Secret Service, Shreveport/Caddo Parish White Collar Crimes Task Force and Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth D. Reeg prosecuted the case.
-- Western District of Louisiana