TAMPA, Fla. — A U.S. district court judge says the same thing that put a Tampa man behind bars in 2015 has him back in prison.
United States District Judge Brian J. Davis sentenced Darius Jondi Edwards, 42, to four years and three months in federal prison for making counterfeit Federal Reserve notes and for violating his federal supervised release.
Court documents say Edwards pleaded guilty to making counterfeit money for the first time back in 2015. For that, he was sentenced to serve 33 months in federal prison and then three years of supervised release, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
In 2019, after he got out of prison, he was arrested for having, forging and making counterfeit bank bills while still on supervised release, according to the DOJ.
Investigators said while he was getting arrested, they found counterfeit currency, partially completed counterfeit currency, and computer media used to make counterfeit Federal Reserve notes.
The DOJ said an investigation done by the United States Secret Service concluded Edwards had bought the computer media used to make the counterfeit notes in Duval County and then brought the computer media to Pinellas County, where he used it.
Edward pleaded guilty on Jan. 25, 2021, and admitted he violated his federal supervision by making counterfeit money.
According to Wauchula State Bank, the United States Department of Treasury reports about $70 million in counterfeit bills are in circulation. The bank says that's about one counterfeit note for every 10,000 in real currency.
If you think you're dealing with counterfeit cash, here's what the United States Department of Treasury says you should do.
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