Police: L.I. Teens Handed Out Fake $20 Bills To Fellow Students At Uniondale High School
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- President Andrew Jackson is part of the American history curriculum at Uniondale High School, but some students got very familiar with the president on the $20 bill in a different way.
As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, the three teenage boys are accused of circulating fake $20 bills in school.
Melvin Pineda, 17; and Teisean Kemp and Kquamel Jones, both 16; were arrested at the school on Tuesday and are each charged with several counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument.
The fake bills look like legal tender. But they did not fool a Uniondale High school teacher who flagged police after a student contributed phony $20 bills to a pizza party last month.
"The paper quality was very poor," said Nassau County police Detective Sgt. Richard Harasy. "I mean, my detectors, as soon as they touched these bills, they realized that the paper is not the same type of paper that you would have in a regular $20 bill. Also, the coloring on it, the green, did not match up with the green that you would see on a $20 bill. It was a little bit darker."
The teens pleaded not guilty to the charges in Nassau County court Wednesday. Kemp was ordered held on $500 bail, while Pineda and Jones were conditionally released and placed on probation.
"Get the camera out of his face. He didn't do anything wrong," a woman told reporters as Jones appeared for his arraignment at Nassau County First District Court in Hempstead.
Police said the teens twice passed counterfeit $20s in school, and again at a BJ's Wholesale Club in Levittown where one of the teens used to work.
A total of 15 counterfeit bills were used on a small purchase.
"The idea was to give bad money and get good money in return," Harasym said.
The boys were arrested in the school cafeteria, where students told CBS2 there is now a new policy on cash transactions.
"The lunch aides are not accepting any type of $20 bills – anything – so I was really shocked," a student said.
The teens are being charged as adults, but defense attorneys are hopeful that will change.
"I know his dad. He's never been in trouble. His first time here, he walks out of court, He meets you guys," said Greg Madey, Jones' defense attorney. "Nothing. He's never been arrested."
Police said it was no surprise finding local counterfeits -- the problem is widespread. But police do not believe the teens had the know-how to print them.
So who did?
The Secret Service is now in on the case, and parents want answers too.
"I think it's crazy. I can't see how kids would be doing something like that, so it has to be somewhere bigger; coming from a higher authority," one mother said.
But some students call their arrested classmates "nice kids," and parents said they never expected this, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported.
"I don't know them for doing stuff like that," one student said. "That's why when I saw it, I was just like, 'Nah, not them.'"
The Uniondale district superintendent said he suspended the boys pending a hearing, and added that the alleged conduct is inexcusable and does not represent an outstanding student body.
Police told CBS2 they are also investigating the possibility that the fake bills were also used on the school campus for teen gambling.