PORTLAND, Maine — A Waterville man was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to 10 months in federal prison for selling counterfeit coins, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Mwashuma M. Sithole, 32, pleaded guilty May 9.
In addition to prison time, he was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $9,580 in restitution.
He was ordered to begin serving his sentence in 30 days. Sithole remains free on $5,000 unsecured bail.
Sithole began ordering counterfeit Morgan dollars online in May 2014, according to the prosecution version of events to which he pleaded guilty. The Morgan dollar is a United States dollar coin minted from 1878 to 1904 and again in 1921.
The coins that Sithole ordered and received were offered as counterfeits and made in China, according to a release issued by the U.S. attorney’s office. He paid about $2 for each coin, which resembled a genuine Morgan dollar in appearance, design, and weight.
Between 2013 and 2015, Sithole sold and pawned about $12,000 worth of counterfeit Morgan dollars, the release said. He knew that the coins were counterfeit but told the buyers that they were genuine Morgan dollars.
Sithole sold and pawned coins in Augusta, Newport, Farmington, Lewiston, and South Portland, according to court documents. Law enforcement officers executed a warrant at the defendant’s residence on Jan. 22, 2015, and seized about 1,200 counterfeit Morgan coins that belonged to him.
In addition to the prison time, and restitution, Sithole was ordered to forfeit the confiscated counterfeit coins.
His conviction also could impact the Zimbabwe native’s immigration status after he is released from prison.
He faced up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The investigation was conducted by the Augusta, Waterville, Auburn, Lewiston, South Portland and Newport police departments; the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office; the Maine State Police, and the U.S. Secret Service, the release said.