EAST ST. LOUIS – A federal district judge has sentenced a Christopher man to 24 months in prison after he admitted to printing counterfeit money.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois, 38-year-old Michael A. Eskew pleaded guilty to one count of manufacture of counterfeit obligations of the U.S., one count of possession of counterfeit obligations of the U.S., and one count of possessing digital image of U.S. currency for counterfeiting.

Court documents show Eskew used printers and electronic images of dollar bills to produce counterfeit U.S. currency at his home. Following a search warrant of Eskew’s home in July 2019, law enforcement recovered $33,826 in counterfeit bills.

Eskew distributed the counterfeit bills to at least five individuals within his community. In addition to his prison term, Eskew was ordered to pay a $600 fine and serve three years of supervised release.

The U.S. Secret Service led the investigation.