‘Coupon Connie’ Given Prison Sentence

A Florida woman who gained national notoriety as “Coupon Connie” for her role in a coupon counterfeiting scheme has been sentenced by a federal judge to 27 months in prison.

Connie Arvidson, 35, of Boca Raton, Fla., was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater.

Arvidson, who foraged through trash bins for legitimate discount coupons before she began selling counterfeit ones, said she is innocent and plans to appeal.

“I’m not going to give up. I’m a very strong person,” she said. “I’m not going to stop until I get the American dream. First is to get out of this ludicrous mess I’m in. I’m going to keep fighting until I clear myself.”

A federal jury in Dallas convicted Arvidson on Jan. 31 of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud. She was acquitted of three additional mail fraud charges.

The same jury also convicted David Rees of Center Point, Tex., who helped print the fake coupons. Fitzwater sentenced him Friday to two years in prison for conspiracy.

Prosecutors said the coupon scheme bilked American companies out of about $2 million.

During the trial, prosecutors maintained that Arvidson bought thousands of dollars worth of phony coupons from the leader of the counterfeiting ring--George Rackmill of Stamford, Tex. She then sold the coupons for profit, prosecutors said.

Rackmill was sentenced to one year in prison after he testified against Arvidson.

Prosecutors said Arvidson used proceeds from legal and illegal coupon clipping to buy toys for her 7-year-old daughter and for expensive furniture, a down payment on a sports car and plastic surgery for herself.

The judge said he did not think Arvidson set out to do anything illegal, but he said that because she tried to cover up her participation by lying on the witness stand, he gave her the longest prison sentence allowed under federal guidelines.

“She was smart, she was successful and she found coupons,” Fitzwater said. “This led her to illegal activity in which she found it was easier to counterfeit coupons than crawl in a dumpster.”