ROCKLAND, Maine — Two local residents accused of making fake $50 bills planned to use them to buy illegal drugs, according to police.
Charles Dodge, 33, and Charlotte Shellman, 41, both of Rockland, were arrested late Tuesday afternoon and charged with Class B aggravated forgery. The two allegedly made the fake money using a printer/scanner at a home on Thomaston Street.
Police had received information from a confidential drug informant in November 2015 that led police to obtain a search warrant of the home. The informant, who is not identified in the affidavit, told police that Dodge had given him money to buy drugs for him. The informant told police that when he noticed the bills did not look real, Dodge told him he was making the money.
A second unnamed informant also told police on New Year’s Eve that Dodge had given him counterfeit money to buy drugs. This second informant said Dodge had a couple thousand dollars in fake $50 bills.
When police searched the home they found photocopies of $50 bills and two fake bills on the printer/scanner, according to the affidavit. The two suspects told police that the money was only used as chips for playing poker.
Shellman also was charged with possession of Suboxone.
Bail was set initially at $10,000 cash for both Dodge and Shellman. At their initial appearances Wednesday in Knox County Unified Courts in Rockland, Judge Susan Sparaco kept bail at $10,000.
The arrests followed an investigation by Rockland Detective Sgt. Russell Thompson and Detective Joel Neal, who were assisted by agents from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.