California man sentenced in scheme to turn $1 bills into $100 bills in Kansas
03/10/2020 8:08 am PDT
via KTLA:
KANSAS CITY (KTLA) -- A California man has been sentenced to three years in prison for washing the ink off $1 bills in a Kansas hotel room and reprinting them to look like $100 bills.
The U.S. attorney's office says 51-year-old John Sebestyen, of Mission Viejo, California, also was ordered Monday to pay nearly $20,000 in restitution.
He and two other suspects were caught after an Overland Park hotel employee reported seeing them throwing trash away in containers that weren't near their rooms. Prosecutors say the suspects were trying to dispose of evidence that they were altering money.
Charging documents say they used the fake $100 bills to purchase items from retailers in the Kansas City metro area, including Target. In some cases, they returned items for cash refunds.
MORE: Mission Viejo man sentenced in scheme to turn $1 bills into $100 bills in Kansas - KTLA
