Monday, April 5, 2004 | 11:28 a.m.
A 27-year-old Las Vegas man is being held in the Clark County Detention Center on 28 counts of forgery after Metro Police and the U.S. Secret Service caught him with about $3,000 in phony money.
James Baird was charged with similar offenses six months ago in Henderson, and officers found a military rocket launcher in the closet of an apartment where he was living with several other alleged counterfeiters, according to court documents.
He was arrested March 31 when a Metro officer noticed he appeared nervous during a traffic stop. Police found 28 bogus $100 bills and some $1 and $5 bills in his wallet along with a fake Nevada driver's license.
Doug Coombs, a former special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office of the U.S. Secret Service, which handles counterfeiting cases, said he was surprised to hear of counterfeit $1 bills.
"It's rare that someone would go through the expense of making fake $1 bills," he said.
The bills were found when police pulled over a 1994 Ford Tempo with expired license plates in the area of Rainbow Boulevard and Flamingo Road. Baird was a passenger.
According to the arrest report, Baird identified himself as Joseph Micelotti but said he lost his driver's license. Due to the high number of car thefts and break-ins in the area, police asked to search the car.
They found a wallet shoved under the back seat containing a fake-looking driver's license identifying Baird as Micelotti and 28 $100 bills "which were obviously counterfeit," the police report says.
Baird admitted to police and a Secret Service agent who was called to the scene that his license was fake and but said he had found the phony money hidden under a bed in a motel.
Police checked his criminal record and found there were numerous warrants for his arrest, including one felony fraud warrant out of Henderson.
The police report says in September, Baird was arrested with Lee Weatherby, in connection with a counterfeiting operation being run out of their Henderson home. A warrant was issued for their roommate William Fountain's arrest.
Henderson Police discovered the operation after an 18-year-old acquaintance was arrested on charges of trying to pass a fake $5 at a convenience store.
After his arrest Brian Alan Moreno told police he had received the bill from Fountain and said that Fountain and some other men were running a counterfeiting operation out of their dining room in Las Vegas.
Moreno said he had hoped to be a partner in the counterfeiting scheme but he had ruined his chances after fouling up the computer system, the police report says. Fountain threatened to beat him up but instead took Moreno's digital camera as payment for the equipment damage.
Police searched the apartment in the Victory Village complex on East Lake Mead Parkway near Warm Springs Road and discovered Baird and 29-year-old Lee Weatherby living there.
Officers determined $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills were being scanned and printed on color printers, according to the report.
They found numerous bills ranging in value from $1 to $100 as well as a computer system in the dining room which was configured to print counterfeit money.
Police also found a loaded handgun, a disassembled shotgun and an expended U.S. Army light antitank weapon -- a rocket launcher, the report says.
Police arrested Baird and Weatherby on charges of possession of forged bills, making fictitious bills and related offenses. A warrant was later issued for Baird's arrest when he failed to appear in court on the charges. Fountain was not home and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Of the $650 billion in currency circulating in the United States, one or two bills in every 10,000 is believed to be counterfeit, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
Las Vegas has fewer counterfeit bills circulating than most cities, Coombs said.
"It's been my experience that the casinos do a good job at prevention and detection," he said. Those in gaming and other industries are accustomed to how genuine currency feels and can recognize phonies.
"This is not a good place to pass counterfeit currency," Coombs said.
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