Lake City man sentenced for passing Federal Reserve notes

Man admits to manufacturing a few thousand counterfeit dollars

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Lake City man was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for manufacturing and passing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes.

James Steven Hall, 47, was ordered to pay restitution to the various businesses he defrauded as part of his court ordered sentence.

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According to court documents, in March 2015, law enforcement received information that Hall possessed counterfeit currency in his hotel room in Columbia County.  Officers from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Secret Service went to the hotel and made contact with Hall, who allowed the officers to search his room.

The search revealed counterfeit $10 and $20 bills hidden between the mattress and box spring. Supplies for manufacturing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes, including a paper cutter, an ink jet printer, blank paper, a laptop computer, and used ink cartridges, were also found in the room.

Hall later admitted to manufacturing a few thousand dollars in counterfeit notes, and to using some of them at local businesses in the Lake City area.