BANGOR, Maine — A Waterville man waived indictment and pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to selling counterfeit coins, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Mwashuma M. Sithole, 31, began ordering counterfeit Morgan dollars online in May 2014, according to a news release issued by the federal prosecutor’s office. Over the next several months, he placed orders online for items that looked like genuine Morgan dollar coins.
The Morgan dollar is a United States dollar coin minted from 1878 to 1904 and then again in 1921. The coins the defendant ordered and received were offered as counterfeits and made in China. Sithole would pay about $2 each for the coins, which resembled genuine Morgan dollars in appearance, design and weight.
Sithole sold and pawned several counterfeit Morgan dollars in Maine in 2014 but told the buyers the coins were genuine, the release said. He sold and pawned coins in Augusta, Newport, Farmington, Lewiston and South Portland.
Investigators seized about 1,200 counterfeit Morgan coins that belonged to Sithole when they searched his home Jan. 22.
Sithole, whose bail status could not be determined Friday afternoon, faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He also may be ordered to pay restitution and forfeit all of the seized coins.
A sentencing date has not been set.