Two Mississippi men are facing federal charges after allegedly using counterfeit cash to steal over $300,000 in luxury watches and jewelry from a retail store in Pineville, North Carolina. The indictment, filed in August 2025 and unsealed after their court appearance, charges Robert Lewis Elliott III, 36, and Devin Alonzo Elliott, 30, both of Okolona, Mississippi, with conspiracy to pass counterfeit obligations and passing counterfeit obligations.
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Russ Ferguson, announced the charges along with Steven Gutierrez, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Charlotte Field Office, and Chief Michael Hudgins of the Pineville Police Department.
According to court documents, the alleged scheme occurred in June 2025. The defendants traveled to Pineville with a plan to defraud a jewelry store. On June 26, they entered the store with another person and expressed interest in buying approximately $300,000 worth of luxury items. They paid a $1,000 cash deposit and agreed to return the next day.
On June 27, the two men returned to finalize the purchase. Robert Elliott allegedly handed over a $10,000 stack of genuine $100 bills for verification. After the store employee confirmed the cash using an electronic counter and counterfeit detection pen, Elliott is accused of performing a sleight-of-hand swap, replacing the real bills with counterfeit ones. He repeated this trick multiple times, cycling the same genuine bills to get counterfeit notes into the store’s safe.
After the employee finished counting the money, he asked for Elliott’s identification. Elliott claimed he needed to get more cash and his ID from his vehicle. Both men then exited the store and fled with the merchandise. The stolen items included a $90,000 Patek Philippe diamond watch, a $48,000 Audemars Piguet watch, a $25,000 Cartier watch, four Rolex watches worth $76,300, a $32,000 rose Cuban link chain, a $17,500 gold bracelet, an $8,200 bangle bracelet, $1,000 diamond earrings, and $2,000 24k pointer earrings.
The men have been released on bond. If convicted, they face up to five years in prison for conspiracy to pass counterfeit obligations and up to 20 years for passing counterfeit obligations. A federal judge will determine their sentences based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
The charges remain allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson acknowledged the investigative efforts of the U.S. Secret Service and the Pineville Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley.
