Counterfeiter sentenced to prison, fined

COEUR d'ALENE - A Montana native who used counterfeit bills to make purchases in the Coeur d'Alene area is headed for prison.

Chadwin King, 28, originally from Butte, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill to serve nine months in prison and pay $10,842 in restitution. King pleaded guilty to the charge in May.

Prior to his arrest in December, King passed counterfeit currency at several locations in North Idaho.

Coeur d'Alene police reported that in November, King successfully used a counterfeit $100 bill at an Appleway gas station. In that incident, King drove a mini-van to Goodie's Country Quick Stop and went inside the store at 6:45 a.m.

"He prepays for $30 in fuel and purchases small items such as a candy bar and coffee," the officer wrote in his report. "He pays with the $100 bill and received $62.52 in change."

The employee who took the fake bill, according to the report, told the officer that he "remembered the bill was suspicious but finally accepted it."

King was later apprehended by Spokane Police Department officers who found him in a blue Chrysler van in the Econo Lodge parking lot.

"Inside the van were cameras, a GPS unit, printers, checks, clothing, tools, and drug paraphernalia," a press release states. "Police also found completed and under-production counterfeit currency."

After prison, King will be on supervised release for three years.