EAGLE — Jabez Parker managed to avoid the long arm of the law for a decade and a half, mostly because he was in a Michigan prison. 
However, Parker is currently incarcerated in the Eagle County jail for forgery and other alleged financial felonies.
Prosecutors say Parker was staying in a Glenwood Springs motel when police there found what was clearly not his laundry: various denominations of bills hanging to dry in his motel room. The money had been washed with Easy-Off oven cleaner and other cleaning products, assistant district attorney Heidi McCollum said Tuesday, during Parker’s first court appearance in Eagle County.
Police say that in counterfeiting operations, real money is bleached with household chemicals to remove the ink. A new denomination is then printed on the paper, so a $5 bill can become a $50 bill. Money counterfeited by that method can be tough to detect because markers used to detect fake money won’t pick up on the fakes, since the paper is authentic.
Parker protested that he had no idea the counterfeit bills were hanging in his room.
Parker was already in the Garfield County jail for counterfeiting and forgery charges. Earlier this year, Parker ran afoul of the law in Teller County for possession of forged financial instruments. He served much of his one-year sentence and was out on parole when he caught the attention of police in Avon and Glenwood Springs.
To read more of this story go to
