Two metro-east residents sentenced to prison for attempting to manufacture U.S. currency
Two metro-east residents have been sent to prison for conspiring to manufacture U.S. currency.
Michael Bell, 33, of Granite City, and Kelly Seeger, 37, of O’Fallon, were sentenced to serve 15 months and 18 months, respectively, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Illinois.
The two were indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2018 on charges of manufacturing counterfeit bills and possessing items and equipment necessary for counterfeiting between November 2017 and April 2018, the release stated.
Bell was sentenced on Friday, while Seeger was sentenced Thursday. According to the release, Seeger’s sentence was higher because she had a more extensive criminal history. At the hearing, the judge stated that the two counterfeited currency was a symptom of their “downward spiral with the use of methamphetamine.”
Both Bell and Seeger will have to serve three years of supervised release following their prison sentences, the judge ruled.
This story was originally published April 15, 2019 at 4:07 PM.