Bradenton man printed over $10,000 in counterfeit money. Now he’s facing prison.
A Bradenton man is now facing 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to making more than $10,000 in counterfeit bills.
Anthony Wayne Smith, 58, pleaded guilty to manufacturing counterfeit currency.
Between March and November 2020, Smith print the counterfeit $50 bills from his Bradenton home, using an inkjet printer and textured paper, according to a plea agreement signed Dec. 27.
But when law enforcement officers arrived at his home in the 3500 block of 16th Street East on Nov. 13, 2020, with a search warrant to search his home, Smith waived his Miranda rights and agreed to speak with them, admitting that the everything in the home was his including the “dope, guns and counterfeit money.”
Smith told investigators that he made the counterfeit money and took them to his bedroom.
In his bedroom, they found a box of counterfeit money, a loaded .22 revolver, three boxes of .22 caliber ammunition and 6.9 grams of crystal methamphetamine. In another box — labeled “Wayne’s Don’t Touch” — they found more rounds of ammunition.
A scanned image of a $50 dollar bill was found when investigators performed a forensics examination of the computer found in his bedroom, assigned the name “waynes MacBook Pro.”
Investigators concluded that there were 203 copies of $50 — a total of $10,150 — with the same serial number put into circulation in the Middle District of Florida.
As part of his plea deal, Smith will have to cooperate with federal investigators and prosecutors, and testify truthfully against others.
Smith is set to be sentenced April 6.
