Investigation of fake bills continues with Secret Service
Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reported the arrest of a 27-year-old Cold Spring man stemming from his alleged involvement in passing counterfeit United States currency to a business in the Village of Cold Spring.
On Jan. 6, the Cold Spring Police Department received complaints from village storeowners reporting that they were in receipt of several counterfeit $10 bills. After conducting the initial investigation, Cold Spring police officials contacted the sheriff’s office for assistance.
Investigator Robert Ferris of the Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation was assigned to the case. Through his investigation, he learned that on Jan. 5, Robert E. Phillips of 307 East Mountain Road South, used the phony money to purchase alcoholic beverages at a Main Street pub.
Phillips was arrested Thursday, Jan. 24, and charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, a class “D” felony. He was arraigned before Village of Cold Spring Justice Thomas Costello and remanded to the Putnam County Correctional Facility in lieu of $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 secured bond. He is due back in court on Feb. 8 at 10 a.m.
The investigation into the counterfeit money is continuing by Ferris along with agents from the United States Secret Service.
If convicted as charged, Phillips may be sentenced to a term of incarceration for up to seven years in a New York state correctional facility as determined by a court.
