A Spring Hill woman is facing multiple charges after deputies from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) found counterfeit bills and a cache of drugs during a search of her vehicle.
In March, an employee from the McDonald’s restaurant at 10319 County Line Road in Hudson, Fla called the HCSO to report that someone had passed a counterfeit bill to a cashier there. During the following days, the HCSO received reports from other area businesses that someone was passing counterfeit bills of various denominations to their cashiers.
Their descriptions of the alleged suspect and her vehicle were the same in all of those cases.
During their investigation, HCSO detectives identified the suspect as 36-year-old Monica Sills. They also learned that Sills was suspected in similar cases in other counties.
On July 29, detectives spotted Sills driving the vehicle identified in the reports in the area of Spring Hill Drive and Mariner Boulevard.
Aware that she was operating the vehicle on a suspended driver’s license, detectives conducted a traffic stop in the parking lot of the Winn-Dixie store at 11092 Spring Hill Drive.
K-9 Argo and his handler were called to the scene to examine Sill’s vehicle. K-9 Argo subsequently alerted investigators to the odor of narcotics.
Detectives subsequently found a plastic bag containing methamphetamine inside the vehicle.
They also found 17 counterfeit bills in denominations of $5, $20, and $50.
The bills matched those used in the other cases, the HCSO said.
Finally, Sills was also found in possession of personal identification information belonging to another person.
Sills was arrested and charged with eight counts of uttering counterfeit bills, possession of 10 or more counterfeit bills, possession of methamphetamine, and knowingly driving on a suspended license.
She was booked into the Hernando County Detention Center and is free on bond.
