Doug Howard
Law Enforcement Coordinator/Public Information Officer
U.S. Attorney’s Office- Middle District of Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama – Today, Acting United States Attorney Jonathan S. Ross announced the sentences of eight individuals convicted of creating and passing dozens of counterfeit bonds. The counterfeit bonds purported to have a total value exceeding $1,000,000. He also announced the related sentencing of one defendant convicted of illegally possessing a firearm. Details of the cases are as follows.
According to court records, in 2021, 38-year-old Zachary Lee Hale, a resident of Daleville, Alabama, began making fake United States Treasury Bond Certificates and redeeming them at credit unions and banks in the Wiregrass area. Once he figured out that his scheme was successful, Hale recruited at least six others to join him and pass additional counterfeit bonds. Court documents indicate that Hale and his co-conspirators were responsible for at least $1,093,911.00 in loss to various financial institutions. Hale pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and bank fraud in October of 2023. On January 17, 2024, a federal judge sentenced Hale to 92 months of imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release.
Also sentenced on January 17, 2024, were five others who redeemed Hale’s fake bonds or recruited others to do so:
- Stephanie Jean Abercrombie, 42, from Daleville, Alabama, was sentenced to 42 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and bank fraud.
- David Michael Penuel, 45, a resident of Kinston, Alabama, received a sentence of 18 months, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to bank fraud.
- Joni Marie Andrews, 43, also from Kinston, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States.
- Marsha Renee Skeen, 52, another resident of Daleville, received a sentence of one year of probation following a guilty plea to misprision of a felony.
- Timothy Bryant Baxter, 45, a Troy, Alabama resident, was sentenced to six months of home confinement as a condition of two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and bank fraud.
Previously, on November 8, 2023, Joseph Fletcher Lee, Jr., 48, originally from Marianna, Florida, received a sentence of 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and bank fraud. Lee was also involved in Hale’s scheme.
After all defendants were sentenced in Hale’s scheme, the judge ordered each one to pay restitution for the amount of loss they caused.
Two additional unrelated prosecutions resulted from this investigation. On November 13, 2023, a judge sentenced 38-year-old John Robert Whyte, a resident of Munford, Alabama, to 18 months in prison for manufacturing counterfeit obligations and for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Dustin Andrew Riley, 32, from Skipperville, Alabama, received a sentence of 21 months in prison on August 17, 2023, for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
“Manufacturing and redeeming counterfeit bonds is not a victimless crime,” stated Acting United States Attorney Ross. “Financial institutions and the American taxpayer pay the price of these selfish schemes. I am thankful to every agency involved in these investigations.”
“The U.S. Secret Service has a long tradition of investigating those who aim to exploit our financial systems and target innocent victims,” stated Resident Agent in Charge Robert T. Haralson with the United States Secret Service’s Montgomery Resident Office. “We are thankful for the hard work and dedication of our state, local, and federal law enforcement partners, as we worked together to bring these offenders to justice. With support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we will continue to investigate, arrest, and support prosecution of criminals who choose to commit fraud in Alabama and across the nation.”
The United States Secret Service investigated these cases, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Dale County Sheriff’s Office, the Enterprise Police Department, the Daleville Police Department, and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office. United States Attorney Megan A. Kirkpatrick prosecuted the cases.
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