Accused counterfeiters from out of town drew suspicion dumping trash at OP hotel
Four people are accused of having “washed” $1 bills and reprinted them as $100 bills before going shopping in the Kansas City area, the U.S. District’s Attorney’s Office for Kansas said Wednesday.
Steven Shane Escamilla, 30, John Sebestyen, 50, Courtney Campbell, 37, and Jonathan Washington, 33, were charged with conspiracy to commit counterfeiting after an employee at an Overland Park Marriott Hotel called to report the group’s suspicious behavior, prosecutors said.
Members of the group were seen depositing trash in containers away from their rooms to get rid of evidence from their activities, prosecutors said.
The group was originally charged in Johnson County District Court in February after Campbell used counterfeit bills to pay the hotel.
From January 29 through February 4, prosecutors say, the group purchased items at chain stores in the Kansas City area using the counterfeit bills. They then returned the merchandise for cash refunds at other locations of the same retail chains in the area.
The stores included Target, Ulta, MicroCenter and JC Penney.
According to text messages accessed by law enforcement, the group has been using counterfeit bills in this way at least since 2017, in some cases gaining $6,000 in returns, court documents say.
Escamilla and Sebestyen are from California. Campbell is from Arizona and there is no known address for Washington. Each faces drug possession charges in addition to counterfeiting charges.
