A Boston man has been sentenced in US federal court for selling counterfeit $100 bills printed on an inkjet printer. Five inkjet printers, cleaning solution, bleach, counterfeit currency and real currency were found during a search of the man's home.
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| The real thing: US $100 bills are commonly referred to as "Benjamins" or "Franklins," in reference to Benjamin Franklin's portrait on the denomination. |
Franklin Perry, 53, of Dorchester, a Boston suburb, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to 15 months in prison, two years of supervised release and forfeiture.
The court heard that in June 2018, Perry sold 10 counterfeit $100 bills for $30 each to an individual who was working with federal law enforcement officers.
In July 2018, Perry purchased items from a retail store in Westwood, including an inkjet printer, with $500 in counterfeit $100 bills. The same day, he also purchased items at another retail store in Walpole with $500 in counterfeit bills.
Perry was arrested in August 2018 during a law enforcement sweep targeting federal drug, firearms and counterfeiting offenses.
Five inkjet printers, cleaning solution, bleach, counterfeit currency and real currency were found during a search of Perry’s residence.
He pleaded guilty to one count of dealing in counterfeit currency and two counts of "passing and uttering counterfeit obligations of the United States.”
All of the counterfeit bills were manufactured using an inkjet printer [model/s not identified] on real currency that had been bleached first.
According to an affidavit by a Secret Service agent, the bleaching let Perry use actual currency notes - and it didn't whiten the red and blue fibres or damage the watermarks that are a prominent part of actual bills.
