Four Defendants in Two Counterfeiting Cases in Louisiana Sentenced to Prison Terms

Louisiana - Four defendants involved in two counterfeiting cases in Louisiana have been sentenced to prison terms. Joshua Michael Dore was sentenced to 36 months in prison, while Creig Matthew Jacquneaux, Jeffrey Wilson, and Beau Bertrand received sentences of 16 months, 21 months and 10 months, respectively. The sentences follow guilty verdicts by a federal jury on June 2, 2022.

On Wednesday, December 14, 2022, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced the sentencing of four defendants in two different counterfeiting cases. United States District Judge David C. Joseph imposed the following sentences on the four defendants:

38-year-old Joshua Michael Dore of Lafayette, Louisiana was sentenced to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Dore was found guilty by a federal jury on June 2, 2022, of defrauding the United States government by forging counterfeit commitments. On September 18, 2020, officers with the Lafayette Police Department executed a search warrant at a residence on Rue Du Jardin in Lafayette, according to evidence given at trial. Dore was a resident of the residence's detached unit. During their investigation of the premises, officers discovered $1, $10, $20, and $100 in counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs), as well as the equipment used to produce them. Additionally, multiple pages of printed FRNs were discovered within the primary residence. Dore was found guilty of possessing these denominations of currency.

In a second, unrelated case, United States District Judge David C. Joseph sentenced the following three defendants:

Creig 48-year-old Lafayette resident Matthew Jacquneaux was sentenced to 16 months in jail, followed by 2 years of supervised release.

The court sentenced Jeffrey Wilson, age 30, of Lafayette, to 21 months in prison, followed by 2 years of supervised release.

34-year-old Beau Bertrand of Breaux Bridge was sentenced to 10 months in jail followed by 2 years of supervised release.

The St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office and the United States Secret Service conducted a search warrant at a residence on 6th Street in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, on December 6, 2021. During the execution of the search warrant, agents found Jacquneaux and Wilson, who were present in a residence on the property, and seized $20, $50, and $100 in counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs). In addition to the counterfeit FRNs, officers discovered a number of authentic FRNs, printers, and FRNs immersed in chemical solutions to "bleach" the ink.

Jacquneaux and Wilson each admitted their participation in a counterfeiting enterprise and pled guilty to the indictment accusing them of cheating the United States government by faking the production of counterfeit obligations. Jacquneaux and Wilson both admitted to passing fake FRNs in the Breaux Bridge and Lafayette regions.

Bertrand pled guilty to a bill of information charging him with misprision of a felony and stated that he knew Jacquneaux and Wilson made the counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes with the aim to deceive others into believing they were authentic.

The United States Secret Service, the Lafayette Police Department, and the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office investigated these cases, which were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Bordelon.