Federal authorities say one of the largest counterfeiters in recent history ran the operation out of his Arlington home. Cloyd Ray Knight III, 58, is believed to have manufactured more than $400,000 in counterfeit $100 bills.
Knight pled guilty to the charges against him in May 2013, but then he jumped bail and went the lam for eight months before being rearrested in January. He was sentenced to five years and nine months in federal prison on June 24.
According to authorities, Knight began developing his elaborate money-printing process sometime in 2004-2005. The process involved newspaper print paper, acrylic paint, forged watermarks and security threads, as well as a dulling method to age the bills.
"The process changed over time based on his experience and experimentation," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
Once he printed the fake $100 bills, Knight would use them to pay for small purchases and receive legal tender as change. He often traveled to East Texas and Louisiana to make the transactions, and it was a Target in Tyler that was his undoing.
Store employees became suspicious when Knight repeatedly made purchases with $100 bills. Once the Secret Service got involved, they discovered Knight's home print shop, which included hundreds of items used in his counterfeiting process.
An Arlington man printed $400,000 worth of $100 bills from his home.
