Florida Craigslist Ad For ‘Legit Counterfeit Money’ Lands Tony Torbert In Jail
A Florida Craigslist ad for “legit counterfeit money” has landed 20-year-old Tony Jerome Torbert Jr. in jail.
Torbert had been running a small business out of his family’s Merritt Island home manufacturing phony $20 bills. He brazenly, and mistakenly, posted to Craigslist advertising his services with an ad that read, “Legit counterfeit $$, serious customers only contact me, XXX-XXX-0289, lowest I go is 1500 for 5000,” according to the court records provided by TheSmokingGun.com.
The investigation into Tony’s “business” first started on December 21, 2014 when authorities received a tip from the Central Florida Crimeline Program stating that a man was advertising counterfeit money on Craigslist.
After a thorough investigation, the police arranged a series of buys by the sheriff’s office Economic Crimes Unit from Torbert, who sold the undercover detectives counterfeit bills, black tar heroin, and marijuana. The first buy took place in a church parking lot across from Tony’s home on North Tropical Trail. On a separate visit, Torbert asked the detective if he was interested in having him obtain a gun for him.
“I’m gonna go ahead and make it easy on you guys. The printer is in my bedroom,” Tony said, when confronted by the police during the fourth buy.
When the authorities entered Torbert’s bedroom they found the HP printer that Torbert allegedly used to print $20,000 in counterfeit $20 bills over the past several months. Tony told the police that he had been working alone, and had been making counterfeit money “since he was in high school.”
Tony was apparently planning on expanding his business further online. In January 2014, Torbert posted to Reddit’s subreddit “Money” saying, “Can anyone help me get to the dark web or black market reloaded will pay cash.” The Black Market Reloaded is a part of the “dark web” which is known for selling narcotics, counterfeit currency, fake IDs, weapons, and other illegal items.
Torbert was arrested and is facing felony charges of possession of counterfeit currency with intent to defraud and narcotics distribution. He has been released on bail until his trial date, however he has to remain residing with his parents. If he is convicted of the charges, Tony could face up to 20 years in federal prison.
According to Florida Today, the U.S. Secret Service were called in to assist the county investigators in closing the investigation.
The moral of this story, if you don’t want to be arrested for committing a crime, don’t post the crime on Craigslist.
[Photo via Shutterstock]
