[StBernard] New Orleans man booked in St. Bernard Parish in connection with bogus $100 bills

[Westley Annis]

New Orleans man booked in St. Bernard Parish in connection with bogus $100
bills
By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 
September 30, 2009, 5:00PM

A New Orleans man has been arrested in connection with trying to pass
counterfeit $100 bills at three St. Bernard Parish businesses, authorities
said.

Ronald Michael Lewis, 39, 7660 Pine Ridge St., has been booked with three
counts of illegal use of counterfeit trademark, the St. Bernard Parish
Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. He remained in St. Bernard Parish Prison
late Wednesday, authorities said.

Authorities said Lewis was in Wimpy's Tavern in Chalmette Monday when he
handed the bartender a $100 and asked for change to play video poker. The
bartender held the bill to a light and noticed something was amiss: The
watermark appeared to have the image of President Abraham Lincoln, who
graces the $5 bill, not Benjamin Franklin, whose face adorns the $100 bill.
The bartender notified the boss, who called deputies while Lewis waited for
change.

Lewis was arrested at the bar.

Later, the investigators received information that a man they believe is
Lewis had passed bogus $100 bills at two other places, Lehrmann's bar in
Chalmette and Ben's Pizza in Arabi