2 Chicago men sentenced for counterfeit money scheme

Two Chicago men were sentenced Monday for printing fake money, which they used to make small purchases and collect real money back as change.

Christopher Pierce, 24, and Harold Jones, 20, were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court. Pierce was sentenced to 21 months in prison, followed by a year of supervised released. Jones was sentenced to 113 days of time served and a year of supervised release.

Between December 2015 and spring 2016, Pierce and Jones used the counterfeit currency to make daily purchases at restaurants, mom-and-pop businesses and gas stations, prosecutors said. They would use the fake money to get real money back as change, and earned up to $250 a day collecting legitimate currency.

Between four and five times a week, Pierce used a scanner and printer to print the fake money on linen paper, according to prosecutors. He printed $5, $10 and $20 denominations, because he felt they were less likely to be detected.