Story (will keep it brief):
Group of friends decided to counterfeit 20 dollar bills, because they were informed that 20s were less likely to draw interest from people who would check. They printed the money on crappy paper and roughed it up real good, and it really, really looked authentic.
They were fine for about a year, when one of them went into a Burger King, right next to a bank, which had just given them the fancy new (at the time) counterfeit pens.
Almost simultaneously, one of the guys was at a brand new casino and tried to exchange about $300 worth of counterfeits into real money (mini laundering), and the Casino had the counterfeit pens.
The next day, out of fear of being caught, 2 of the guys offloaded their money into the local economy, without much return (I believe they spent most of it at Walmart). They were detained on their way out of some shopping center.
At school the next day, APS/APD Joint Officer Norlander came in to each class and detained the remaining 4 students, and held them in the office at school, waiting for Secret Service to come.
One of the 4 took off out of the office and was arrested for violating a lawful order to stay put (or something along those lines).
All 6 were arraigned and convicted of counterfeiting at least $1000 each, and 3 of the 6 spent time in Federal Prison, since they were over 18. One of the three got 2 years of probation, and the other 2 went to juvenile hall.
One of the 6, 3 years later, was arrested for credit card fraud at the Coronado Mall in Albuquerque and last I heard, was never allowed to touch a personal computer again (that may be wives tale, as I no longer talk with him). The other 5 have led normal lives since the incident.
FWIW, the Secret Service fellows were jerks. I had nothing to do with the case, walked into the office (ok, I admit, I was curious and wanted to see) to speak with the counselor about something, and I was escorted out. When I literally told the SS guy that he was very similar to another SS group I'd heard of, he threw me against the wall and threated he would "Ruin yours and your parent's life" if I didn't apologize. I threw him some nice comments, laced with obscenities and walked away, shooting him the finger (I was one of those obnoxious rebellious teens).
I probably didn't help my friend's cause.