LAWFUEL – Legal Newswire – SAN JOSE – United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that Frank Manuel Abila, 32, of San Jose, pled guilty today to manufacturing thousands of dollars of counterfeit United States currency as well as possessing physical and electronic images of that currency.
As part of his guilty plea, Abila admitted to making and possessing at least $6,410 in counterfeit United States currency and images. The currency was in various denominations–everything from $1 bills to $100 bills. Abila also admitted to circulating counterfeit United States currency in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The indictment in the case charges Abila with possession of counterfeit United States currency, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 472 (Count One); manufacturing United States currency, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 471 (Count Two); and possession of electronic images of United States currency, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 474(a) (Count Three). Today, before United States District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel, Harris pled guilty to all three counts.
Judge Fogel has scheduled sentencing for Abila for August 1, 2007. The maximum statutory penalties for each count are 20 years in prison (25 years in prison for Count Three), a $250,000 fine, and five years supervised release. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Assistant United States Attorney Matthew A. Lamberti is prosecuting the case, with the assistance of legal assistant Susan Kreider. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service.
Further Information: Case #: CR 05-00219 JF
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Natalya LaBauve at (415) 436-7055 or by email at Natalya.LaBauve@usdoj.gov.
