Mo. man pleads guilty to counterfeiting charges

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A Missouri man faces up to four years in federal prison now that he’s pleaded guilty to possessing and passing counterfeit U.S. currency.

Thirty-six-year-old Sanchez Smotherman of St. Louis pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis to possession of counterfeit currency, resisting or impeding the U.S. Secret Service and obstructing justice.

Federal prosecutors say Smotherman admitted that on June 13 he possessed and passed the bogus currency at a business in Sauget.

After his arrest, Smotherman tried to destroy evidence by placing it in his mouth in an attempt to swallow it, then forcibly resisted law enforcers who tried to retrieve the evidence.

Smotherman’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 11.