Schools suspends 6th grader over fake $1 bills, may face charges

[Champ]

WEST SEATTLE, Washington -- A sixth grader and two of his friends were suspended for using phoney dollar bills made on a home computer to buy food in the school cafeteria. On Monday, a cafeteria worker at James Madison Middle School found a dollar bill that didn't look or feel like the real thing. Seattle school district spokesman Patti Spencer said people in the lunch room were told to watch for more counterfeit bills.

An assistant principal called Seattle police the next day after a sixth grader tried to use one of the fake bills to buy beef jerky from the cafeteria.

Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said the boy made 20 fake dollar bills on his aunt's computer, brought them to school and shared them with his friends.

The King County prosecutors' office is reviewing the case and deciding whether to file charges. School officials suspended the three boys for several days.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/2005/04/10/990426-sun.html

[donco6]

1. That's Secret Service territory.

Stupid kids.

[lenidog]

2. Come to think of it you are right

These kids leaped over the typical juvenile crime and headed straight for the big leagues. Damn, I wonder if the Federal counterfeiting laws recognize age?

[donco6]

4. I don't think they have much of a sense of humor.

You just don't mess around with counterfeiting.

[lenidog]

5. When it comes to counterfeiting the Secret Service has never

had and never will have a sense of humor. Its the one constant in our government no matter who is in power.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. The only reason this hasn't been "typical juvenile crime"

is because it had previously involved the use of engraved plates, chemicals, special inks, and other sophisticated equipment that kids just didn't have access to. Now that copiers/printers have made it so easy to produce authentic-looking fake money, expect more stupid adolescent boys (and girls) to be doing this sort of thing.

[baldguy]

3. I used to manage a liquor store.

We got fake money all the time. The most memorable one was a $50 a respectable-looking middle aged guy tried to pass. It turned out that he was the Foreign Currency Officer for the Toronto office of a large Canadian bank.