PORTLAND, Maine — A New York City man authorities say used teenage girls to spend counterfeit $100 bills in Maine has pleaded guilty to related charges.
Andrew Cupidore pleaded guilty this week in federal court to passing counterfeit U.S. currency.
The 21-year-old Cupidore was arrested April 21 after an officer patrolling the Maine Mall in South Portland received a report from a store clerk that a girl had tried to spend what appeared to be counterfeit bill.
The officer found the 16-year-old girl and discovered three other girls in the mall doing the same thing. Cupidore was found hiding in a mall bathroom. Police recovered $1,000 in fake currency.
Police say Cupidore directed the girls to make purchases with the fake money and give him the change.
He'll be sentenced at a later date.