Man sentenced for spending fake money
By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on June 25, 2024.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com
A southern Alberta man who spent counterfeit money at a Raymond business two years ago, then returned to try it again a month later, will spend a number of weekends in jail.
Timothy James Clements was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but he will serve his sentence between 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday, a judge allowed Friday in Lethbridge court of justice.
Clements pleaded guilty to two charges of using counterfeit money in relation to the Raymond offences, the first of which occurred on March 15, 2022 when he used a fake $50-bill to purchase food at the Dairy Queen. The counterfeit bill was noticed by the bank the following day, and Clements was identified after police reviewed the restaurant’s video footage.
Barely a month later, on April 20, Clements returned to Dairy Queen and tried to purchase food with a fake $100-bill.
“The cashier then took that $100-bill and showed it to the manager of the Dairy Queen, who recognized that the fake $100-bill had the same serial number as the fake $50-bill that the accused had previously used,” Crown Prosecutor Lisa Weich told court. “The accused walked out without getting anything.”
Clements, who appeared in court by CCTV from the Calgary Remand Centre, also pleaded guilty to three more charges of using counterfeit money, relating to incidents at three Lethbridge businesses.
On April 22, 2022, Clements used fake bills to purchase $600 worth of merchandise at Walmart. The cashier noticed the fake money and a security guard recognized Clements from previous dealings with him, and he wasn’t allowed to leave the store with the goods.
The previous month he used a counterfeit $50-bill to buy pizza, but the manager of the restaurant was not fooled by the fake money. Then the very next day Clements used a fake $50-bill at a north side grocery store, and he was subsequently identified from the store’s video footage.
The judge agreed to allow Clements to begin serving his sentence June 28, so he can attend the wake and funeral of his sister who recently died. However, that is also contingent upon whether he is granted bail on unrelated Calgary charges.
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