TOLEDO — A man and woman who federal prosecutors said made purchases at several locations throughout Northwest Ohio using fake U.S. currency entered into plea deals with attorneys Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio in Toledo.
Paul Bakle and Katrina Shaw each pleaded guilty to passing or uttering counterfeit obligations or securities of the United States in exchange for the government’s dismissal of a charge of the manufacture of counterfeit currency.
Sentencing for Shaw will take place on Nov. 28 in U.S. federal court in Toledo. Bakle will be sentenced two days later.
According to the indictment, Bakle and Shaw were arrested in January in Defiance County and had counterfeit money on them. Law enforcement reportedly searched Shaw’s Van Wert home and found more bills and equipment to make the fake currency.
The indictment said the pair between Dec. 18, 2022, and Jan. 7, 2023 used fake currency, in denominations ranging from $5 to $100 bills, to purchase items at Lee’s Chicken Restaurant in Delphos and Burger King, Taco Bell, Brookside Convenience Store, Casey’s General Store and Pak A Sak in Van Wert.
Bakle in 2020 was sentenced in Putnam County Common Pleas Court to eight months in jail for attempted counterfeiting. He was living in Ottawa at that time.
