Sunday, June 17, 2001
Three face charges for passing counterfeit bills
By Ryan Good
Staff Writer
Three out-of-state people are facing charges for trying to pass off funny money at garage sales.
Tony L. Yonts, 40, Ermine, Ky., faces one count of forgery. His wife, Lori Yonts, 26, faces one count of complicity to forgery, also a fifth degree felony, and Brian Maggard, 19, Whitesburg, Ky., faces one count of possession of a fictitious driver's license, a first degree misdemeanor.
"We anticipate more charges coming," said Tiffin Police Det. Mike Marquis. "Tony Yonts and Maggard were the primary ones spending the money."
Maggard's charge stems using Tony Yonts driver's license with Maggard's picture on it.
Marquis said charges also are coming in federal court because of the involvement of the Secret Service.
Two other people accompanying the Yonts and Maggard were released after police determined they weren't involved in the counterfeit scam.
The money the three were passing was close to the real thing, but the paper the bills were printed on was not the same quality.
"It's obvious (the bills) are computer generated, but we don't know how or where at this point," Marquis said.
Fake $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills were passed off at eight garage sales in the county, according to reports, and five or six in Tiffin. The group located the garage sales by using the classified section from the Advertiser-Tribune, investigators said.
All five were arrested Friday afternoon at the Westgate Shopping Center after police received a tip from a person who had taken his money to a bank after closing down his garage sale.
Eventually a description of the truck the group was riding in was obtained and it was then spotted at the shopping center.