Wrong Watermark on Counterfeit $100 Bills

AFAYETTE, Ind. - Bartender Brandy Tuczynski knew the $100 bill a customer gave her was fake when she held it up to the light and saw Abraham Lincoln's face instead of Benjamin Franklin's on the watermark.

The bartender's attention to detail helped lead investigators to a Lafayette man who police say had been passing the bogus bills since June.

Earl H. Devine, 22, faces four counts of forgery and four counts of theft. He was released from Tippecanoe County Jail on $10,000 bond Wednesday, a jail officer said Thursday.

Police first arrested Devine July 31 after he allegedly used a counterfeit $100 bill to pay for drinks at Chumley's. He was arrested again Tuesday on charges he tried to pass a similar bill at a Lafayette drugstore.

"The watermark on the bills don't correspond with the correct president's face," said Jeff Rooze of the Lafayette Police Department. "They all have Abe Lincoln's watermark, which is on the $5 bill."

Security features such as color shifting ink in the lower right-hand corner and a security thread also were missing, and the paper had red and blue dots indicating they had been made with an inkjet printer, police said.

No telephone listing was available in the Lafayette area for Devine to obtain comment.