Photo provided by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office
This is Kenneth Perkins’ mugshot when he was transferred to the Butler County Jail. His case of counterfeiting is part of the wave of fraudulent activity in the area.
Sergio Cisneros
Lantern Staff
Communities throughout South Central Kansas have been reporting cases of people using counterfeit money, and the crime is closer to Butler than one may think.
Since the Christmas season of 2016, the reports of people using fake dollar bills has been on the rise in the Wichita area. El Dorado is one of the many towns reporting the fraudulent activity.
On Friday, April 21, the El Dorado Police Department released a fraud alert through Facebook. The statement warns of fake $100 bills being used in place of real ones, and what people in the El Dorado area should look out for when given a $100 bill in the future.
The fake bills can be identified easily by making sure the broad words “The United States of America” to the top right of Benjamin Franklin’s head. On a fake bill those words are replaced by “For Motion Picture Use Only.” There are multiple ways to identify fake bills from real ones which are show in greater detail on El Dorado Police Department’s Facebook post.
What makes the crime difficult to stop is that the fake bills that are being used are motion picture prop money. Having the bills themselves are legal is what makes catching the crime difficult. A suspect has to be caught in the act of trying to pass the prop money off as a real bill to be charged with counterfeiting or else the suspect could claim they simply were not aware the money was a prop bill.
However, the reports of the counterfeiting throughout the area soon came to fruition, ending with a fire being set in the East Residence Hall on El Dorado’s Butler Campus and the arrest of former student athlete Kenneth Perkins.
On Monday, April 17, a student, believed to be Perkins, went to the Accounts Receivable office in the 600 building trying to get change for a $100 bill. Upon close inspection, the employee at the office discovered the dollar bill the student gave them was a prop dollar bill. The employee handed it back to the student, and he left the premises before campus police could arrive.
Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety James Bryan immediately tasked Officer Jason Kenney and Deputy Chief of Police and Assistant Director of Public Safety Phillip Crom with investigating the case further.
On Saturday, April 22, at around 5:30 a.m., someone who was in the East Residence Hall (1300 Building) called campus police reporting that there was smoke throughout the halls, followed by what smelled like burning paper.
Officer Daniel Gorman reported on the scene and discovered an upside down bucket covering a pile of ashes. Upon collection of evidence, the bits of ashes could be made out to be a prop $100 dollar bill.
Officer Gorman investigated the immediate area and found Perkins near the scene on his cell phone, and asked Perkins if he know who had set the fire in the hallway. Perkins told Officer Gorman that he was alarmed by the smoke and came out of his room to figure out where it was coming from.
When Officer Kenney reviewed the footage from a surveillance camera in the hallway on Monday, April 24, Perkins was caught on tape lighting the fire after pacing throughout the hallway for several minutes.
Soon afterwards that same day, Perkins was brought to the Department of Campus Security office in the 1100 Building for questioning. Perkins was promptly arrested and charged with arson and counterfeiting on Saturday, April 24, but the charge of arson was changed to aggravated arson, as a fire in the dorms could cause catastrophic damage to property and students.
Perkins is currently being held at the Butler County Jail with a $5,000 bail.
“I want to commend Officers Kenney and Crom for their hard work with this case,” Bryan said. “But if the faculty had been more diligent in reporting the incident, the fire in the dorms could have been prevented.”
Bryan says that being aware of the crime is the first step to being able to prevent it. Crime can happen anywhere, no matter the location. One of the most important things that staff, students or citizens can do when encountered with not only these fake bills but any crime, is to call 911.
“[The campus police] gets dispatched from the operators at 911,” Bryan said. “Whether it’s a suspicious character, a stray animal or a car broke down on the highway, you should always call 911.”
The easiest way that citizens can help police do their jobs is by reporting incidents as soon as possible.