Counterfeiter sentenced for ripping off Lowe’s, other retailers

A Missouri man has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for using counterfeit money to buy a power drill at Lowe’s and then returning it for cash, according to an article in The Spokesman Review.

Anthony Lamar Thomas, 40, received a 21-month sentence in federal court on June 6 after making a plea deal with prosecutors for his role in the scheme, which involved an accomplice purchasing the drill with counterfeit bills last year, and Thomas returning the product shortly afterwards to a Lowe’s store in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Thomas was also ordered to pay restitution to 18 other merchants in neighboring communities that also received the fake bills. His female accomplice was sentenced in April.