Dorchester Man Pleads Guilty To Counterfeiting Charges

BOSTON – A Dorchester man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to counterfeiting charges.

Franklin Perry, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of dealing in counterfeit currency and two counts of passing and uttering counterfeit obligations of the United States. Senior U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. scheduled sentencing for July 9, 2019. Perry was arrested in August 2018 during a law enforcement sweep targeting federal drug, firearms and counterfeiting offenses.

On June 27, 2018, Perry sold 10 counterfeit $100 bills to an individual who was working with federal law enforcement officers. On July 25, 2018, Perry purchased items from a Target in Westwood, including an ink jet printer, with $500 in counterfeit $100 bills. That same day, he also purchased items at a Walmart in Walpole with $500 in counterfeit bills. All of the counterfeit bills were manufactured using an inkjet printer on real currency that had been bleached first.

On Aug. 23, 2018, five inkjet printers, cleaning solution, bleach, counterfeit currency and real currency were found during a search of Perry’s residence.

For each charge, Perry faces a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Stephen A. Marks, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Theodore Merritt of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.