Counterfeiter Sentenced to Jail in Plea Agreement : Courts: James F. Hanson, who pleaded guilty to three felony charges, receives five years’ probation and is ordered to pay $1,000.

A man who teamed up with a co-worker after hours to make counterfeit money at the Ventura print shop where they worked was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail.

James F. Hanson, 31, of Chatsworth received the maximum possible sentence under a plea agreement that promised he would not be sent to prison for his crime.

In addition to the jail sentence, Hanson was placed on probation for five years and ordered to pay $1,000 to the state restitution fund.

Hanson and co-defendant Jeffrey David Sevier, 28, of Thousand Oaks pleaded guilty in June to felony charges after they were linked to counterfeit $5 and $10 bills that were found in a recycling bin.

Defense attorneys have contended since the beginning that the men were not serious in their efforts to print fake money. Deputy Public Defender Nicholas Falcone, who represented Hanson, called the counterfeiting scheme “flimsy and unsophisticated.”

“This stuff was just a joke,” Falcone said.

That notion was disputed by the case prosecutor, who pointed out that it is a complex process to duplicate the engravings and notations on money.

Hanson pleaded guilty to three charges--making counterfeit plates, forgery and having the intent to pass a forged document.

Sevier admitted 17 charges, including forgery and manufacturing counterfeiting equipment. Included in the charges were allegations that he also made fake California drivers’ licenses.

He is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 14.

Saying that Sevier was the mastermind of the counterfeiting plot, Falcone argued for a six-month jail sentence for Hanson instead of the one-year term imposed by Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr.

Hanson was coerced into taking part because he owed Sevier several hundred dollars, Falcone said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Aveis said Sevier was tied to more than $330,000 in bogus bills, while Hanson was connected to $82,000.

The investigation began early this year when the counterfeit money was found at a recycling center while materials were being sorted for processing. Investigators knew the fake bills had been picked up from a Ventura print shop, but they did not know who made them, Secret Service Agent J. Kevin Riordan said.

In April, Sevier was stopped for an unrelated traffic offense and counterfeit money was found in his car, officials said. Eventually, Sevier and Hanson were linked to the money at the recycling center.