On May 29, 2018, Osmar Bustamante-Figueroa, 21, of Tucson, Ariz., was sentenced to 65 months’ imprisonment. Bustamante was the third of three defendants convicted of crimes involving producing and passing counterfeit U.S. currency and unlawfully possessing firearms.
Bustamante’s co-defendants, Clinton Young, 43, of Irving, Texas, and Jose Manuel Valenzuela, 19, of Tucson, Ariz., had previously pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 15 and 16 months in prison, respectively, for conspiracy to pass or possess counterfeit currency.
Beginning in early 2016, Bustamante and Young began counterfeiting Federal Reserve Notes, which Bustamante and Valenzuela used to purchase firearms from private individuals selling firearms via online advertisements. Between March and June of 2016, Bustamante and his co-conspirators passed more than $50,000 worth of counterfeit currency to at least sixteen identified victims in exchange for various firearms. At the time of these transactions, Bustamante was under indictment on State (Arizona) felony drug charges.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the United States Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Tucson Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Rosaleen O’Gara and Angela W. Woolridge, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Tucson.