06-05-2025
Vermilion Co. man sentenced to prison in second counterfeit conviction
VERMILION COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — Three years after a Vermilion County man was convicted of counterfeit charges, he has once again been convicted of counterfeiting, and sentenced to four years in prison.
48-year-old Jacob Kirkley of Bismarck was sentenced to four years in prison on May 2, for his second federal counterfeiting conviction. Kirkley was released from federal prison in May 2023, six months before committing his second counterfeit offense.
In December of 2024, WCIA reported that a federal jury returned five guilty verdicts of manufacturing, selling, and possessing counterfeited United States currency. Evidence presented in court indicates that on Dec. 7, 2023, Kirkley sold an undercover officer $1,000 of fake U.S. money that he made for $250. Later, Kirkley sold the same undercover officer another $6,000 in counterfeit U.S. money.
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In January 2024, U.S. Secret Service and Vermilion County Metropolitan Enforcement Group agents got a search warrant for Kirkley's home and found additional counterfeit money, as well as items used to make counterfeit currency.
When Kirkley committed those offenses, he was on federal supervised release for a 2022 counterfeiting conviction. That stems from an incident in 2020 when a Vermilion County Sheriff's Deputy found over $20,000 of counterfeit U.S. currency in his truck. The deputy also learned Kirkley had passed counterfeit currency at Carnaghi's Towing and McDonald's in Danville, and Dollar General in Tilton.
After searching Kirkley's hotel room at the Budget Inn in Danville, deputies found over $20,000 counterfeit U.S. currency, four printers, a paper cutter, and counterfeit-making tools. Kirkley served 27 months in federal prison and was serving three years of federal supervised release when he committed his latest offense.
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The government presented evidence that Kirkley violated his supervised release by testing positive for methamphetamine use on eight separate occasions.
And, the government said Kirkley had told the undercover officer that '[his] name's a red flag for any kind of . . . counterfeit material at all,' that he learned how to use 'Bible paper' to counterfeit currency in prison, and that he believed he would 'be screwed' and would have 'the book' thrown at him if he were caught counterfeiting again.
U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce found that Kirkley had not accepted responsibility for his crimes. Because of this, he followed the government's recommendation to impose a longer sentence.
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Kirkley was sentenced four years in prison, as well as an additional 18 months for violating his federal supervised release. Once he completes his five-and-a-half year sentence, he will be required to serve another three years of federal supervised release.
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