Counterfeiter sentenced to 41 months; loss totaled over $30,000

A federal judge sentenced a Baltimore man to more than three years in prison for selling and using counterfeit bills.

Robert Johnson, 33, was sentenced to 41 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement Wednesday.

Johnson pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit currency at a price of about 50 cents for each fake dollar. He knew that the buyers would be using the fake money as if it were genuine, the statement said.

He also used large denominations of the fake bills to buy inexpensive items so that he would get real dollars in change, the prosecutor's office said.

A judge placed the total loss at over $30,000.

Police watched Johnson sell fake dollars on four occasions. He was arrested in April 2010.

steve.kilar@baltsun.com

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