OKLAHOMA CITY – A federal grand jury here indicted a man last week on charges of manufacturing, possessing and passing counterfeit $50 bills in Oklahoma City.
Joseph Jordan Cantu, 29, “did falsely make, forge, and counterfeit” $50 Federal Reserve Notes, Count 1 of his indictment alleges.
Counts 2 and 3 accuse him of passing $300 of that “funny money” at two clothing stores in Penn Square Mall on Feb. 17, and Count 4 charges Cantu with having in his possession approximately $1,650 of “forged and counterfeited” Federal Reserve Notes.
Most recently Cantu was incarcerated in the Oklahoma County Detention Center, awaiting his initial court appearance.
In a separate case, a Californian accused of interfering with a flight attendant and assaulting a federal air marshal pleaded guilty in federal district court here.
Ariel James Pennington, 35, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to interference with a flight attendant, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester announced.
Pennington admitted that while traveling on a Delta flight from Arlington, Virginia., to Los Angeles on Dec. 9, 2021, he assaulted and intimidated a flight attendant, thereby interfering with the flight attendant’s ability to perform his/her duties.
Pennington also was indicted on a charge of assaulting a federal air marshal on the same flight. However, that count was dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea to interference with the flight attendant.
The case was filed in the Western District of Oklahoma because the flight was diverted to and landed at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.
At sentencing, Pennington faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, followed by up to three years of supervised release. A sentencing date will be set by the court in approximately 90 days.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office and the Oklahoma City Police Department.