Yahya Abdur Rashid (Johnny Darnell Edmonds) is headed back to federal prison for the third time after pleading guilty to being involved in a counterfeit money operation.
He was arrested in September of last year by Collegedale Police and was found not only to have committed the crime in Hamilton County, but also in several other counties across East Tennessee.
Collegedale and Lenoir City investigators, working together, were able to match the serial numbers on the fake bills used in their separate jurisdictions.
Federal Judge Sandy Mattice sentenced him to serve 27 months and to make $1,500 in restitution to stores that got the fake bills that the Secret Service said were printed in Nigeria.
The judge said, "You must like prison." Rashid said, "Not at all. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
Judge Mattice noted that Rashid was stealing cars in 1981, then two years later got a federal sentence for interstate theft of vehicles. Soon after his release, he was convicted in state court of armed robbery and got two consecutive 25-year terms. He was out in time to pick up a federal conviction in 1993 for selling cocaine. He was in federal prison from 1994 until 2002.
Myrlene Marsa of the federal defender's office noted that Rashid stayed out of trouble for about a decade. He said he married and had three children. He said he turned to counterfeiting after being laid off by Shaw Industries. He said he later was a part-time instructor at Chattanooga State.
He begged the judge for mercy, saying, "You won't see me here again." The judge laughed, saying, "I've heard that before."
Rashid was given the maximum on the 21-27 months range.