Bradenton man gets 3 years in prison after trying to pass counterfeit $10 bill
A Bradenton man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for possessing or using $410 in counterfeit bills.
Dennis Michael Aigotti, 54, pleaded guilty Oct. 13 to two of the charges he was indicted on: possessing a counterfeit reserve note and passing a counterfeit note.
He was sentenced in a Fort Myers courtroom by U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Florida said in a news release on Thursday.
Aigotti went to Hudson’s Grocery Store in Boca Grande on May 18, 2021, and attempted to use a counterfeit $10. But when the cashier checked the bill using a money marker pen, a dark line appeared, which indicates the bill is likely counterfeit.
The cashier gave Aigotti the bill back. When he left the store, the cashier called police. Officers found Aigotti in his car near the grocery store.
A task force agent with the U.S. Secret Service was called and took over the investigation. Aigotti gave the agent permission to search his car, where 17 counterfeit $20 bills and 4 counterfeit $10 bills were found in addition to the bill Aigotti had in his wallet and had attempted to use.
Agents also found a printer with used ink cartridges, a laptop, strips of resume or construction paper, a stack of about 25 sheets of resume paper and scissors.
As part of his plea deal, Aigotti was forced to forfeit the laptop and printer.
Aigotti was on supervised release at the time of his arrest last year for federal convictions of passing and counterfeiting Federal Reserve notes.
