LEESBURG, Florida—A man who has been booked into the Lake County Jail six times since 2018 and has an “extensive juvenile record” in Delaware was arrested Monday on a warrant for uttering counterfeit bills on two separate occasions in January, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Leesburg Police Department picked up Shymiere Montese Howell, 27, of Ocala on two charges of uttering forged bills, petit theft and scheme to defraud, according to his arrest affidavit.
On Jan. 11, a man later identified as Howell, is alleged to have purchased a pack of Newport cigarettes with a counterfeit $100 bill at Murphy USA, 1801 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Leesburg. The cashier told LPD the man asked for the cigarettes, she asked for identification, and he handed her his ID and a $100 bill. She completed the transaction, which was captured on video, handed Howell the cigarettes and $91.42 in change, the affidavit states. He was accompanied by another man, later identified as Tyshaun Robinson, 28. Robinson was murdered in February in an unrelated incident before being questioned about the counterfeit bill. Maliek Rose, 16, was arrested less than a week later for his murder.
LPD recovered the counterfeit bill, and to the right of Benjamin Franklin’s face, it states “FOR MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY. THIS IS NOT LEGAL. IT IS TO BE USED FOR MOTION PROPS, in addition to several other indicators the bill is not legal tender, an LPD detective noted in the affidavit. A quick internet search by Inside Lake revealed $30,000 worth of prop money can be purchased for as little as $10.
The following day, Howell again tried use a counterfeit bill at the same location and the cashier refused to accept it. Officers responded to the area but were unable to locate Howell.
LPD identified Howell through several different means, including by officers who were familiar with Howell, and a facial recognition program that identified the suspect as a 93 percent match to Howell. A warrant was issued for Howell’s arrest May 31.
LPD caught up with him Monday and he was transported to the Lake County Jail, where he is being held on $6,000 bond.
