United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

THREE FACE FEDERAL CHARGES FOR
RUNNING LOCAL COUNTERFEITING SCHEME

FORT WORTH, Tex. — Three individuals, who were arrested last month for passing counterfeit money in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, have been charged in a federal indictment, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.

The grand jury in Fort Worth returned a seven-count indictment late yesterday charging Carrie Rene Craft, 42, of Burleson, Texas; Bradley W. Kaluzniak, 35, of Haltom City, Texas; and Kimberly Sue Jones, 33, of Fort Worth, Texas, with various charges related to running a scheme to manufacture and pass counterfeit $100 bills from May 2007 through August 23, 2007. Craft and Kaluzniak remain in custody; Jones is on bond.

All defendants are charged with being part of the conspiracy. They used a computer and printer to scan and print images of genuine $100 bills. Then they distributed it to others to pass it as genuine at various retail stores.

The indictment alleges that Craft made approximately $30,400 in $100 denomination bills. On July 8, 2007, she attempted to use of these counterfeit bills at Petco, 4115 S. Cooper, in Arlington, Texas. The indictment further alleges that when she was arrested on August 23, 2007, she possessed an additional $35,400 in counterfeit $100 bills.

The indictment further alleges that on June 25, 2007, Kaluzniak knowingly tried to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at Borders, located on Burleson Drive in Burleson, Texas. In addition, on June 19, 2007, Jones tried to knowingly pass a counterfeit $100 bill at the Linen N’ things on South Hulen in Fort Worth. On July 17, 2007, she tried to knowingly pass a counterfeit $100 bill at a Shell gasoline station on East State Highway 114 in Grapevine, Texas, and was arrested by Grapevine Police.

The affidavit filed with the complaint in this case states that the defendants would sell the counterfeit notes to others, or use them to pay for drugs or other merchandise. The affidavit also states that all these counterfeit notes shared the same characteristics and manufacturing methods, including consisting of two pieces of paper stuck together, being made from a printing method that leaves the note slightly textured and glossy, having shared serial numbers and back plate numbers, having counterfeit security threads, and having counterfeit water marks.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. However, if convicted on all charges, Craft faces a maximum statutory sentence of 65 years in prison and a $1 million fine; Kaluzniak faces a maximum statutory sentence of 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine; and Jones faces a maximum statutory sentence of 45 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the U.S. Secret Service, and the Grapevine, Fort Worth, Arlington, Burleson, and Irving, Texas, Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bradford.

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