Cantonment Man Arrested With Heroin And Bogus $100 Bills With Chinese Writing, ECSO Says

A Cantonment man allegedly tried to pay for a hotel room with fake $100 bills with Chinese writing on the back and offered information about “big time heroin dealers” after he was caught.

Christopher George Gerth, 33, was charged with defrauding an innkeeper, passing counterfeit currency, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Garden Inn and Suites on Pine Forest Road at I-10 where clerk manager said Gerth attempted to pay for his room with two bogus $100 bills. When the clerk questioned the authenticity of the cash, Gerth snatched it away and walked back to his room, according to an arrest report.

The ECSO said when deputies confronted Gerth at his room, he admitted the counterfeit bills were in his pants pocket, and he was placed under arrest. He also admitted to having a needle with heroin in his back pocket.

“I am a heroin user and there is heroin in the needle,” Gerth said, according to the ECSO report. The liquid in the syringe field tested positive for heroin.

Both of the counterfeit hundreds had the same serial number and had Chinese writing on the back, the ECSO said.

The arrest report notes Gerth stated he wanted to talk to the ECSO Narcotics Unit in reference to “big time heroin dealers that are known to be dealing large amounts of heroin.”

Gerth remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $12,000.