Two men who were arrested last year in Kenner on counterfeiting conspiracy charges have been sentenced to federal prison.
Pierre Emmanuel “Marco” Jalla, 39, must serve two years, nine months, and Jackson Ntone Ndemba, 36, also known as Sammy Jackson, was banished for 1-1/2 years. Both were sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon, whom President Clinton nominated to the bench.
Jalla and Ndemba, citizens of Cameroon, were in the United States illegally when they were caught in an FBI sting, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
An undercover officer contacted Jalla and worked out a deal to use $60,000 in real money to produce $120,000 in counterfeit bills, FBI agent Ana Perez said in an affidavit. Jalla told the officer he had driven from Atlanta with the necessary items: white paper and a special dye that would allow the dye from a real bill to seep onto the paper, duplicating the currency, according to the affidavit. A meeting was arranged at a Kenner hotel, where both defendants were arrested July 29, 2009.
A jury convicted both defendants in a two-day trial in July 2010.
The Secret Service helped investigate the case. The prosecutors were Assistant U.S. Attorneys Greg Kennedy and Scott Laragy.