CEDAR RAPIDS – A Forest City man who manufactured counterfeit twenty dollar bills pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Victor Ineson, Jr., age 42, from Forest City, Iowa, was convicted of one count of manufacturing counterfeit currency. Two additional charges, relating to the possession and passing of counterfeit currency, were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
At the plea hearing, Ineson admitted that, from April 2017 through mid-May 2017, he had counterfeited and altered multiple $20 bills at his residence in Forest City, Iowa. In a plea agreement, Ineson admitted that he would use chemicals to wash the print off of lower denomination bills and reprint each side of the bill so that it appeared to be a $20 bill. Ineson used some of these counterfeit bills to pay for merchandise at area businesses. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Ineson’s residence on May 18, 2017, and discovered at least $335 in counterfeit currency.
Sentencing before Chief United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Ineson has been placed on home detention pending sentencing. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, $100 in special assessments, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment. He also agreed to pay restitution to all businesses that received the counterfeit currency.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Lightfoot and was investigated by the Forest City Police Department, the Britt Police Department, the Mason City Police Department, and the Clear Lake Police Department.
