|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A 58-year-old Hemet, California, man has pleaded guilty to passing more than $1 million in counterfeit U.S. savings bonds during three years at banks in Brownsville and Houston, the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brownsville announced.
Daniel Alan Lewis and others conspired to create counterfeit U.S. Series I savings bonds. They then passed them at financial institutions using other people’s identities and split the proceeds, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division stated in a news release.
As part of his plea, Lewis further admitted that in November and December 2021, he passed numerous counterfeit savings bonds at banks in both the Houston and Brownsville areas.
In Brownsville, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. accepted the plea and set sentencing for Aug. 10. At that time, Lewis faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine, the news release stated.
He has been and will remain in custody pending that hearing.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Secret Service, Department of the Treasury, Office of Inspector General and the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edgardo J. Rodriguez is prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorney David D. Hamstra, according to the news release.
