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A 45-year-old California woman pleaded guilty in Brownsville federal court Wednesday for her part in a scheme that generated more than $1.6 million in counterfeit savings bonds.
Summer Marie Creech, who had been facing a 13-count indictment, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make, pass and transfer counterfeit bonds and passing counterfeit bonds, court records show.
In a news release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said Creech and others conspired to create counterfeit Department of the Treasury Series I savings bonds.
“They then passed the counterfeit bonds at financial institutions using other people’s identities and split the proceeds,” the release stated.
The scheme began around 2019 when Creech learned how to acquire genuine savings bond numbers.
“She then used computer software and printers to forge counterfeit bonds,” the release stated. “She then sent the bonds to co-conspirators who would pass them at financial institutions and share the proceeds with her.”
One of Creech’s co-conspirators, Daniel Alan Lewis, a 58-year-old California resident, previously pleaded guilty to the same charges and is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
Creech faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine.
U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera, who accepted her plea, scheduled her sentencing for late December.
Creech will remain on bond pending her sentencing.
