Gilroy police and federal Secret Service agents arrested three
Fresno residents at the Gilroy Inn Saturday after learning of a
counterfeit operation the three were running out of their hotel
room.
Gilroy police and federal Secret Service agents arrested three Fresno residents at the Gilroy Inn Saturday after learning of a counterfeit operation the three were running out of their hotel room.
Mikeal Jackson, 36, Sarah Coberly, 36, and Marissa Rackley, 18, were arrested at the Gilroy Inn, 611 Leavesley Road, on suspicion of making and passing fictitious bills and conspiracy. Jackson was also booked on charges for burglary and violation of a domestic violence court order. All three were booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail. A fourth suspect, Anthony Renteria, 34, of Fresno, was also arrested in the hotel room on unrelated drug charges, said Gilroy Police Detective Stan Devlin.
Police had been on the lookout over the weekend for potential suspects after receiving a tip that someone might be passing phony bills at local businesses. The tip instructed police to “check the cheap motels,” Devlin said.
After passing a $100 bill at a Starbucks near the outlets about 10:20 a.m. Saturday, Jackson was identified by several witnesses as going into a room at the Gilroy Inn, Devlin said.
“Everything fell together from there,” he said.
Within the hour, police located Jackson and arrested him and his associates, who had checked into the Gilroy Inn on Thursday and had been running a makeshift counterfeiting operation in their hotel room, police said.
The bills had been passed at “various locations including Gilroy Outlet businesses,” police wrote in a press release.
“We were very pleased to learn that the Gilroy Police Department has broken a counterfeit money ring which impacted businesses in and around the Central Valley,” said Jeannie Omel, general manager of Gilroy Premium Outlets, in a written statement. “We do not have complete information on the number of stores this money ring impacted. We can only comment at this time that we commend the efforts of the Gilroy Police and extend our gratitude to them.”
Though Devlin had not seen the quality of the fake bills himself, Dan Schott, the resident Secret Service agent in charge who declined to comment on many of the case’s details, said the bills were of “reasonable quality.” Devlin did not know the amount of counterfeit money the suspects managed to pass before their arrest.
Anyone with more information about the alleged counterfeiting scam may call 1-800-782-7463.
