By Tom Gilchrist
For The Advertiser
VASSAR — Authorities await information from the U.S. Secret Service before proceeding with a court case against a Vassar Township man suspected of passing counterfeit $100 bills in the city of Vassar in December.
James M. Klein faces four counts of uttering and publishing counterfeit bills or notes. Prosecutors allege Klein is a habitual felony offender, which means he would face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted of any of the charges.
Court documents show attorneys await “additional information” from the Secret Service on Klein’s case. Tuscola County Circuit Judge Amy Grace Gierhart postponed Klein’s pretrial conference to Monday, from Jan. 13.
Klein’s lawyer, Birch Run attorney Debra S. Kauten, declined comment when asked what added information she expects from the Secret Service, which investigates counterfeit U.S. currency. The Advertiser could not reach county prosecutors for comment.
Secret Service officials found something unusual about the bills seized from Klein — accused of taking fake bills to four businesses in Vassar — according to Vassar Police Chief Ben Guile.
“This was a new serial number, a new sequence that they hadn’t seen before,” Guile said. When asked if police know the origin of the suspected counterfeit money, Guile said, “We don’t and (Klein) isn’t saying.”
Police teamed with employees of a Vassar business to arrest Klein on Dec. 1. A worker at a business noticed a $100 bill from Klein “looked a little fake — and gave us a vehicle description,” Guile said.
Vassar Police Department Officer Jody Grant then stopped the vehicle in Vassar and police arrested Klein. Authorities obtained evidence from the vehicle and from Vassar businesses, Guile said. The police chief described a suspected method used by counterfeiters of $100 bills trying to trick store clerks who use counterfeit-detection pens to mark the bills.
“They’re bleaching a $1 bill and reprinting the $100 bill’s face onto the parchment, so when (clerks) do that marker check on the bill, it passes,” Guile said. “But if you hold the bill up to a light, it doesn’t pass the test, because the watermarks on a $100 bill aren’t visible. The government doesn’t make $1 bills with the watermarks on them, so a counterfeiter can’t get the watermark in the parchment.
“There’s also a magnetic strip down (an authentic) $100 bill.”
Klein was released on bond on his own recognizance pending a Feb. 4 trial in Tuscola County Circuit Court. Prosecutors say he has been convicted of two previous felonies: a pair of 2011 convictions for assaulting/resisting/obstructing police officers in Tuscola County.