2 men accused of printing counterfeit money in Athens hotel room
Two Athens men were arrested Tuesday after allegedly printing counterfeit money inside a hotel room.
Athens-Clarke County police searched the hotel room of Matthew Smith, 39, and Joseph Sanders, 47, and found printers, linen paper and counterfeit bills as evidence the men were printing money, police said.
Police were led to the room after a food truck employee alerted them of a woman paying with counterfeit $20 bills.
Smith and Sanders were charged with second-degree forgery. Sanders was also charged with giving a fake name.
Jennifer Pittman, 44, who allegedly paid with the counterfeit money, was also charged with multiple counts of forgery.
Athens-Clarke County police Detective Nathaniel Franco said in a news release there has been a spike in counterfeiting in the past couple of months, mostly with $20 bills and sometimes as small as $10 bills.
He said suspects are using smaller bills since they aren’t inspected as thoroughly by cashiers.
“A very cursory examination by employees would lead to less of these bills being passed,” Franco said in the release.
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