Three Muncie residents were arrested Tuesday after police discovered thousands of dollars in counterfeit money, illegal drugs and firearms at a residence near Ball State University's campus.
Police used a warrant to enter 2024 W. Main Street at 9:30 a.m. to search for the fake money, said Sgt. Allen Williams, head of the detectives division of the Muncie Police Department.
This was another step in a two-week old investigation of a counterfeit ring operating in the area, Williams said.
Six people in the house were originally detained, but only two, Heather Smith, 18, and Billy Williams, 28, were charged with four counts of forgery each. Jeammine McPhaul, 28, was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm. McPhaul had been previously convicted of armed robbery.
Between $3,000 and $4,000 in counterfeit $100 bills was discovered, as well as the firearms and marijuana, Allen Williams said.
Theses arrests follow the arrest of Antione Carter, 21, on New Year's Eve at the Dill Street Bar and Grill when he attempted to use a counterfeit $100 bill.
"We got similar bills probably less than a month ago," owner Phil Willf said. "We noticed them the next day, and we had staff training about counterfeit money."
When an employee recognized the fake money Carter was using, the police were called, Willf said. Fraud on this scale is unusual at Dill Street, he said.
"We've gotten some counterfeit $10s and $20s before," he said. "In a dark place, it's very easy to do."
Information from Carter's arrest and local businesses led to the Tuesday arrests, Allen Williams said.
"All the money was pretty decently made, so the businesses all took the money," he said. "What they were doing was going around and getting $1,000 money orders from businesses and turning around and taking the money orders to the bank."
Four businesses accepted $1,000 in counterfeit money, he said. The investigation is ongoing.
The suspects will probably be charged locally, Allen Williams said, but there is a possibility of the Secret Service becoming involved.
"We get $10s and $20s here every once in awhile at gas stations and restaurants, but we haven't been getting anyone using this kind of money in years," Allen Williams said. "I can't recall recently where there was more than a couple hundred dollars, and these people raked up more than $4,000 in a few week period."
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