ILLINOIS WOMEN ARRESTED IN RITCHIE COUNTY WITH COUNTERFEIT MONEY

(12/05/2020)

Clarissa Mosley (left) and Asonte James

Two Illinois women have been charged in Ritchie County while on their way “to bring counterfeit bills to Charleston,” deputies said.

On Dec. 2, deputies with the Ritchie County Sheriff’s Department responded to an Exxon in Ellenboro in reference to the store receiving a counterfeit bill, according to a criminal complaint.

While en route to the store, deputies were informed that the vehicle, driven by Clarissa Mosley, 23, of Chicago, Illinois, and with a passenger identified as Asonte James, 21, of Freeport, Illinois, had left the area, deputies said.

Deputies located a vehicle matching the description leaving a Shop N Save store on Main Street in Harrisville, at which point deputies conducted a traffic stop, according to the complaint.

During the stop, deputies made contact with Mosley and James and asked them to exit the vehicle, and the two women explained that they “were traveling to Charleston to their Aunt’s house,” and that they had stopped at the Exxon, but the attendant did not tell them that the money was counterfeit, deputies said.

When asked if Mosley and James “had cash in their possession,” they responded that “they had a lot of cash in the vehicle” and gave deputies consent to search it, at which point deputies “observed a large amount of cash in several denominations in the center console,” according to the complaint.

Deputies also found a black purse “hanging from the driver’s seat” which held an Illinois ID for Mosley, as well as “a large number of counterfeit one-hundred-dollar bills,” deputies said.

At that time, Mosley and James were given a Miranda statement and then “provided an audio/video statement” in which they claimed “they were working in concert to bring counterfeit bills to Charleston” and that “they passed the bills at two locations, knowing they were counterfeit,” according to the complaint.

Mosley and James have been charged with two counts of counterfeiting, two counts of possession of counterfeit with intent to utter and two counts of conspiracy to commit a felony. They are both being held in North Central Regional Jail on $60,000 bond.