Pamela Downs - Kingsport PD
In a case of "It was on the Internet so it must be true," a Tennessee woman was arrested for trying to use counterfeit money, explaining to police that she read online that President Barack Obama had passed a law making it legal, reports the Times News.
Pamela Downs, 45, of Kingsport was arrested on Sunday after giving a clerk at gas station a $5 bill which he suspected might be counterfeit.
A police officer dispatched to the gas station wrote in his report that the fake money appeared to have been printed on a home printer with the two sides glued together.
Downs initially explained to the officer that she had received the fake money at another gas station in nearby Bristol a few days earlier and had never really looked at it.
After agreeing to have her purse searched, police discovered a fake $100 bill printed in black and white with the backside glued on upside down. Police also found receipts in her purse showing she had purchased a printer and copy paper at a local Walmart.
After being handcuffed and placed in a cruiser, Downs reportedly said, "I don't give a ****, all these other bitches get to print money so I can too."
In an interview at the jail, Downs admitted to printing the money in her apartment, stating that she read online that President Obama had made a new law permitting her to print her own money because she is on a fixed income.
A search of her apartment uncovered printing supplies including copy paper, scissors, glue and a printer.
Several more counterfeit bills, both cut and uncut, were also found with police estimating the total to be around $30,000 to $50,000.
Downs has been charged with criminal simulation and counterfeiting.
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