Troy Stroud couldn't have known it at the time, but as he passed a crisp new $20 bill to the woman in the drive-through window at a Popeyes Chicken restaurant on North La Brea Avenue, he was doing more than just paying for his order, authorities said.
The alleged counterfeiter was passing a suspected bogus bill right in front of a quick-thinking U.S. Secret Service agent who had been following Stroud.
As Stroud's car idled in line, the agent ran inside the restaurant, flashed his badge and took position behind the counter. He then watched as Stroud handed the allegedly fake currency to the clerk.
On Tuesday, federal authorities announced that Stroud and four other men have been arrested and charged in connection with a massive counterfeiting scheme that U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien called "one of the largest, if not the largest, counterfeit currency rings we have seen in Southern California."
The ring is responsible for printing and distributing nearly $7 million in bogus currency over the last two years, authorities said.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Tracy L. Wilkison, the prosecutor on the case, said it was unusual not just because of the amount of money involved, but because agents were able to go up the food chain in their investigation.
"Most of the time what we have is a handful of poorly crafted bills in small amounts," she said. "When we're able to trace it all the way back to the source and stop the printing, that's a big coup."
The bills, allegedly produced with computers and ink jet printers, were of particular concern to agents because they had proved difficult to detect and were passed in locations across the United States.
Among those charged in the scheme was Albert Edward Talton, 44, of Lawndale, who is accused of printing the fake cash.
A search of Talton's home turned up "a full-scale counterfeit currency manufacturing plant" and more than $1 million in completed and partially completed fake bills, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Among the evidence found in the baldheaded suspect's trash were 20 bottles of Aqua Net and White Rain hair spray.
Authorities say the hair product is commonly used to coat fake bills to block the counterfeit-detecting pens used by merchants.
As he was being taken into custody, Talton admitted that he had printed between $5 million and $6 million in fake currency, authorities said.
