TAMPA, Fla. – Darius Jondi Edwards, 42, Tampa, has pleaded guilty to manufacturing counterfeit money. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and payment of restitution to the victims he defrauded.
Edwards is currently on federal supervised release and faces an additional 2 years in federal prison for violating the terms of his supervision.
On September 23, 2020, Edwards appeared in federal court for violating his federal supervised release and was detained. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to court documents, after pleading guilty in federal court in Jacksonville, in 2015, for manufacturing counterfeit money, Edwards was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.
After printing the counterfeit currency, Edwards and others passed the currency throughout the Jacksonville area.
After his release from prison, and while on federal supervised release, Edwards was arrested by officers from the Pinellas Park Police Department while in possession of counterfeit currency, partially completed counterfeit currency, and computer media used to manufacture counterfeit Federal Reserve notes.
Further investigation by law enforcement determined that Edwards had purchased the computer media used to manufacture the counterfeit notes in Duval County. He then transported the computer media to Pinellas County and began manufacturing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes.
This case was investigated by the Pinellas Park Police Department and the United States Secret Service (Jacksonville Field Office). It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.