Two Arrested For Counterfeit Money in Washington Parish

Two men, one from Washington Parish and one from St. Tammany Parish, were arrested by the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office on January 1 for passing counterfeit money in Washington Parish. Booker T. Adams (38) of Bogalusa is charged with Monetary Instrument Abuse (counterfeit money), two counts of Theft of Goods, and four counts of Failure to Appear on a narcotics charge and non-support charges. Romello Phier Brown (21) of Covington is charged with Monetary Instrument Abuse (counterfeit money).

After receiving complaints from two businesses of a man passing counterfeit $100 bills, a patrol deputy spotted the vehicle involved at another local business and stopped it.  The driver was identified by witnesses as the one who had passed the counterfeit bills.

Romello Phier Brown, the driver, and Booker T. Washington, his passenger, each had counterfeit money in their possession at the time of the arrest amounting to $700. The counterfeit money looked legitimate except that it was marked with wording “For Motion Picture Use Only.” The investigation continues in an effort to determine the source of the counterfeit bills.

Sheriff Randy Seal cautions parish businesses about being on the alert for counterfeit money. “Any business receiving bills from a customer should always examine both the front and the back of the bills. In this case, both the front and back of the bills was clearly marked to indicate that the bill was not United States currency. I applaud our detective and patrol divisions for solving this case and making these arrests so quickly.”