Police say duo arrested in St. George had $20K in fake money they planned to use to make rap video

Composite image with background stock photo by Zeferli, overlay stock photo by FabrikaCr, both from iStock/Getty Images Plus | St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A traffic stop on River Road landed two men in jail Wednesday evening after officers recovered more than $20,000 in counterfeit bills – currency the pair hoped would finance a rap video – and the second large seizure of fake money this week.

On Wednesday officers responded to the Chevron gas station on River Road to assist at the scene of a traffic stop involving a vehicle that was swerving into other lanes of travel on northbound I-15 shortly before 5 p.m. in St. George.

2018 file photo for illustrative purposes only of a police officer on River Road where traffic is backed up in St. George, Utah, Dec. 21, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

According to charging documents filed with the courts, when the patrol officer approached the car he detected the odor of burned marijuana and told both occupants the vehicle would be searched and a request for backup was sent out.

At that point both men were told to exit the vehicle. The driver was identified by his U.S. passport as 32-year-old Romell Hudson, and the passenger as 36-year-old Christopher Tate. Both were detained.

The men told the officer they were traveling through Utah from California, and when asked, neither could provide any specific details as to where they intended to go.

During the search, officers recovered multiple bundles of $20 bills that were bound together. In total, more than $20,000 in counterfeit money was recovered from the trunk and from inside of the car.

One of the officers who arrived as backup was familiar with two recent traffic stops on I-15 where a large amount of counterfeit currency was recovered, along with another stop in Iron County the previous week. Upon further inspection, officers determined the bills had the same serial numbers as the counterfeit money seized during the traffic stop in Washington City the previous evening. More than $13,000 was recovered from the vehicle.

Officers then contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the same agent who responded to the traffic stop the previous evening arrived. Upon further inspection, the agent confirmed the bills were linked to the prior seizure through a check of the serial numbers.

As the search continued, officers also located several receipts showing multiple purchases of prepaid credit cards, each in the amount of $200. The receipts also revealed the cards were purchased at various retailers in California and Nevada over a two day period starting the previous day.

The officer also noted the suspects likely selected the prepaid credit cards as a means to exchange the counterfeit currency for legitimate money being stored on the card based on the fact that prepaid cards cannot be traced back to an individual. The pair also split up the purchases between several stores located in two states in an effort to avoid raising anyone’s suspicion by buying a large number of cards at a single location.

A loupe is used to examine foreign currency for counterfeit bills. U.S. Twenty-Dollar Bills have details and safety features that can easily been seen when magnified. Loupes can also be used by collectors to view the fine detail or the artwork on the bills.

The receipts also helped officers to track the journey as they continued north from California and into Nevada, making several stops along the way, before the traffic stop in Utah.

Officers also recovered suspected marijuana and paraphernalia from inside of the car.

During a background check, officers discovered that Hudson had a felony warrant issued out of California on an attempted robbery case in San Jose. They also found multiple prior convictions for theft, assault and robbery-related offenses filed in California.

The background check on Tate revealed a felony warrant out of Houston, Texas on a forgery case that was extraditable from Utah. Officers also discovered several prior convictions in Minnesota, Nevada and Texas involving possession of a forgery device.

Both suspects were separated and transported to the St. George Police Department for an interview, and during a search of Tate’s person, officers recovered more than $1,000, some of which were counterfeit bills, from inside of one of the suspect’s shoes.

Officers also seized both men’s cell phones as evidence, which is when they noticed the navigation app on Hudson’s phone was set to a location that appeared to be in the Denver area of Colorado.

During the interview, Tate told officers he and Hudson were headed up to Salt Lake City to meet a couple of women, but could not provide the names of the women or any specific location information.

When confronted about the navigation setting, Take told authorities he was unaware of any plans to go to Denver, and while he reportedly admitted the currency found in the car was fake, he went on to explain it was to be used to make a rap video, but could not explain why there was legitimate currency mixed in with fake money.

The suspects were transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility where each face 10 third-degree felony counts of possession of a forgery-writing device, as well as two misdemeanor charges for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.

The men were also booked on the out of state warrants. Based on the fact that neither was from the area, could not tell police where they were headed, were believed to be a flight risk, and showed a history of not showing up for court appearances, both were held without bail.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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