State v. Mr. M (DMC No. 11444) – Felony Fraudulent Schemes (Counterfeiting $20 Bills), Felony Counterfeiting, Felony Theft & (2 counts) Felony Forgery – Not Charged – Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office investigated (DR#20XXX-XXXXX7).
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office was called to a CVS Pharmacy located in Queen Creek. When they arrived, they spoke with a manager who sated that Mr. M. had come into the store and utilized a counterfeit $20 bill to purchase a $1 item and then he received $19 in change. They stated that this had occurred to them in the past also. The manager had taken down the license plate number from the video in the parking lot before Mr. M. left. The Officers ran the license plate and then showed up at Mr. M’s residence. Mr. M lived with his parents, and only the father was home when the Police arrived. The father allowed them to search Mr. M’s room, and it was discovered there was a computer, a scanner and a shedder inside the room. Contained in the shredder were several pieces of shredded counterfeit money.
When contact was made with Mr. M, he invoked his right to remain silent. We then became involved in the case and we had Mr. M. sign an Affidavit that he was invoking his right to remain silent if he were to be contacted by Detectives in the future. We also spoke with Detectives about the fact that the computer in the household was a “community computer”, and it was not password protected. Lastly, we pointed out that they had no video evidence of the alleged prior incidents occurring at that CVS and other stores in the surrounding neighborhoods. Eyewitnesses could not pick Mr. M out of any photo line-ups, and he had made no admissions to knowledge of the counterfeit money. Ultimately, the Sheriff’s Detective routed the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office seeking a charge of Fraud Schemes, Theft, and two counts of Forgery. It was also possible that a charge of Counterfeiting could have been tacked on. However, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office made the decision to “turn down” the case. Mr. M has no criminal record.